Two new Michigan House bills would restrict students’ use of cellphones and social media in schools.

Republican Reps. Mark Tisdel, of Rochester Hills, Donni Steele of Orion Township, and Tom Kuhn of Troy introduced House bills 5920 and 5921 in September.

HB 5920 would require parental consent and age verification when minors sign up for social media services.

HB 5921 establishes regulations on phone use, with limits depending on the student’s grade.

Minors can’t consent to contracts, and that restriction should apply to setting up a social media account, Tisdel told Michigan Capitol Confidential in a phone interview.

For minors, phones provide “this constant distraction and demand that your attention be given to this artificial, online world that you need to compare yourself to,” Tisdel said.

A University of Michigan Medicine study of 203 tweens and teens found that the average teen received about 240 application notifications daily. One-fourth of those arrived during school hours.

Those dings and pop-ups take attention away from schoolwork and real life, Tisdel said.

Under the legislation, social media companies must supply a parent or guardian with a way to access the minor’s account to see posts the minor makes, as well as messages sent to or from the minor.

HB 5920 is currently before the Health Policy Committee.

HB 5921 would require school districts to establish regulations on cellphone use. The bill would prohibit all students in kindergarten through fifth grade from possessing a wireless communications device on school grounds. Students in grades six through eight would be barred from using a phone on school grounds during instructional time, lunch, recess and at other times. Students in grades nine through twelve would have to stay off their phones during instructional time.

The bills would reduce distractions, prevent cyberbullying, and keep students from using class time to make videos of fights to share on social media, according to Tisdel.

“Let’s not worry if a kid can take their cellphone to class,” Tisdel said. “What if we worry about whether they can read?”

Meta Platforms, Inc., parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, declined to comment on these specific bills but supports federal legislation that would require app stores to get parental approval when people under 16 download apps, Rachel Holland, who represents Meta in regulatory public affairs, told CapCon.

In mid-September, Meta also released Instagram Teen accounts that restrict users from contacting teen account holders, limit the content teenagers see, and provide other safety protections, Holland said in an email.

Northville Public Schools and the Novi Community School District have restricted cellphone use during class in recent years.

Novi Community School District is device-free in K-8 buildings.

“The Novi Community School District believes that in order to give students the best chance to succeed, they need to learn in an environment as free from distraction as possible,” according to the district’s personal electronic device use procedures. “Attention, engagement, and participation are key factors to helping students achieve in the classroom both academically and socially.”

HB 5921 has been referred to the Education Committee.

As of September 2024, seven states have passed statewide restrictions on phones in schools, according to the health policy research firm KFF.

A government employees union is recruiting people who provide home health care through Medicaid before the state’s dues skim law is enacted.

The Legislature last month passed legislation classifying home health providers as public employees, a move the Mackinac Center for Public Policy calls unconstitutional. This opens the door for the union to organize these providers — most of whom are family members who receive a government subsidy while caring for disabled loved ones.

Steve Harry received a flyer from Michigan Home Care Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.

Harry contacted Michigan Capitol Confidential after reading a story on the unionization effort.

It is unclear how the union obtained Harry’s contact information. The Tri-County Council on Aging provides respite care for Harry and his wife. He suggested the council may have provided his information to union officials.

“I don't remember giving them permission to give our information to the union,” he wrote.

CapCon filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking emails between then Tri-County Office on Aging and the Service Employees International Union as well as between the aging office and Michigan Home Care Workers United since Jan. 1, 2024. The request yielded no responses.

The flyer encourages Harry to sign a form letter to his legislators asking them to support Senate Bills 790 and 791. This legislation, as CapCon previously reported, paves the way for the union to skim dues from providers’ paychecks.

Home health care providers do not get collective bargaining representation from the union, and legislators can increase the paychecks of those who care for people through Medicaid, whether or not a union for those workers exists. In fact, spending on the Home Help program has increased 85% since the original dues skim was repealed in 2012.

“Michigan has a proud history of unionization, and it’s unacceptable that home care workers are denied that right,” the flyer states, though in fact there is no state law preventing home health care workers from joining a union.

Gov. Whitmer has said she will sign the dues skim bills. In addition to designating providers as public employees, the pending law will require home health care workers to attend an orientation on basic home healthcare. These basics include activities that workers already perform, such as bathing someone.

Under the unionization law, union officials could use the mandatory orientation session to pressure care providers to join.

Home health care workers who feel pressured to join a union can email CapCon. Despite claims by union advocates and public officials, state law does not require people to join a union if they receive a government subsidy to care for a disabled or ill person at home.