Rep. Greg Markkanen

Maddy summaryThis House resolution calls on Heidi Washington, the Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, to resign due to alleged failures in addressing dangerous working conditions within state prisons. The bill cites severe staffing shortages that have forced officers to work excessive overtime, leading to fatigue, safety risks, and a high rate of vacant positions across multiple facilities. It further alleges that the administration has ignored union concerns, blocked legislative funding for retention and training, and fostered a culture of retaliation against employees who report issues. Ultimately, the measure seeks to hold the director accountable for these conditions without proposing specific policy changes or new laws.

Maddy summaryHB 6150 updates the Recreational Authorities Act by renaming it the "Recreational Authorities and Natural Resources Authority Act" and adding new definitions to clarify terms used in the law. The bill explicitly defines concepts such as "authority," "district," "participating municipality," and various types of public lands, including parks, natural resource areas, historic farms, and swimming pools. These changes aim to provide clearer language for local governments and recreational authorities regarding the scope of their operations and the types of areas they manage. The legislation does not alter existing operational rules but rather refines the terminology within the statute to ensure consistency.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands the definition of "clean energy system" within Michigan's Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act to include specific types of natural gas facilities. It classifies natural gas plants equipped with carbon capture and storage systems that are at least 90% effective as clean energy sources, while explicitly excluding the use of captured carbon for enhanced oil recovery. Additionally, the legislation recognizes independently owned combined cycle power plants that have existing agreements to achieve emission reductions through carbon capture and other technologies by 2030. The bill also updates definitions for biomass to include various organic materials like agricultural crops, wood from sustainably managed forests, and wastewater sludge, and clarifies the meaning of regional transmission organizations. These changes directly affect electric providers and the Michigan Public Service Commission by altering how they categorize and report energy generation under the state's clean energy standards.

Maddy summaryHB 5953 limits the late fees or penalties that privately owned toll bridge operators can charge for unpaid tolls to no more than five times the original toll amount. This restriction applies only to privately owned bridges and does not affect international crossings or publicly owned bridges. The bill amends the Michigan Vehicle Code to establish this cap, ensuring that fees for overdue tolls remain proportional to the initial cost.

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies Michigan's school code to require public school districts to provide a core academic curriculum based on state-developed standards that focus strictly on academic and cognitive skills. Key provisions mandate that reading instruction for grades K-6 adhere to the science of reading and that math standards for grades K-5 be updated by a specific committee by June 2025. The legislation also requires history curricula for grades 8-12 to include learning objectives about genocide, such as the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. Additionally, the bill ensures that state assessments measure only academic proficiency rather than student values or attitudes and requires special assistance for students who do not pass fourth or seventh-grade reading tests.

Maddy summaryHB 5991 primarily appropriates state funding for Michigan public schools for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, allocating money from various state funds to support education operations and federal compliance. The bill also mandates that districts administering the M-STEP or a new state-administered assessment system must provide detailed item analysis reports showing how individual test questions contribute to student scores. Additionally, it establishes a pilot program allowing districts to use an alternative state-administered assessment system instead of the standard M-STEP for certain high school students taking the Michigan merit examination. The legislation includes provisions for online reporting tools to share assessment data with educators and families while preventing the release of individually identifiable student information to the federal government.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates Michigan's Revised School Code to clarify how public school academies must report student test scores. It requires these academies to use either the standard M-STEP assessments or a state-administered assessment system if they are part of a specific pilot program. The changes apply to the legal sections governing academy organization, contracts, and application requirements. By modifying these statutes, the legislation ensures that academies operating under different testing systems are clearly defined in state law.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires Michigan school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies to post a link to a specific transparency dashboard on their public websites by July 1, 2025. Additionally, it mandates that these institutions provide an annual summary of school performance data to every student's parent or legal guardian starting in July 2026. The law also directs the Center for Educational Performance and Information to update its main data website to include information from the transparency dashboard and add a feature that allows users to compare data across public schools in the state.

Maddy summaryHB 5995 proposes to remove fees that schools charge for evaluating student applications for specific programs. This change would directly affect students and families who currently pay these costs to apply for services under the Revised School Code. The bill eliminates the financial barriers by amending existing state laws that authorized these charges. If passed, applicants would no longer need to pay evaluation fees to access the covered programs.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Michigan's Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act to explicitly include trade schools as eligible institutions for high school students taking college-level courses. It updates the legal definition of "eligible postsecondary institution" to ensure that trade schools, alongside community colleges and universities, can participate in the program where students pay tuition and fees directly. The legislation does not alter existing rules regarding course limits, eligibility criteria, or tuition caps, focusing instead on clarifying which types of schools can offer these dual-enrollment opportunities. By making this change, the bill allows high schoolers to access vocational and technical training at trade schools through the same funding and enrollment framework currently used for traditional colleges.