LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan House of Representatives chose to send a House Resolution to a committee rather than vote on a package of bills responding to the Oxford School Shooting, as the chamber maintains its even split between the number of Republican and Democrat representatives.
What happened?
Representative Mike Harris (R-Waterford), a former school resource officer (SRO) proposed HR 198 which would have designated February as School Resource Officer Appreciation Month, but Democrat leadership sent it to the Government Operations Committee for further consideration.
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“Honoring school resource officers for their tireless work to protect our students at school shouldn’t be a hard decision, but Democrat leaders dismissed my resolution recognizing SROs to die in committee,” Harris said in a statement.
What role do SROs play in schools?
Harris, also a former member of law enforcement, shared about the important role that SROs play in building relationships between staff, students, and SROs.
“My time as a school resource officer was one of the most rewarding assignments during my 26-year law enforcement career,” Harris said. “SROs serve as a link between law enforcement and the education community. They build relationships with those they serve, so when young people, parents, and teachers have a concern, they turn to the officer they know and trust. As educators teach and kids learn, they know that the school resource officer they see every day has their backs.”
Decision follows House refusal to consider school safety package.
Following the Oxford School shooting that left four students murdered in 2021, a House Bipartisan School Safety Task Force was assembled to hear from law enforcement, school officials, and counselors, as they prepared recommendations for the legislature to consider.
The group released its report in December 2022, which featured numerous recommendations as the group focused on prevention, mitigation, and response to further incidents. Under the new session, many of the previous policy bill recommendations were proposed in the form of a bill package with 13 bills, HB 4088-4100.
What about Democrat leadership?
Democrat leadership has received several letters from Republican legislators including Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) regarding the bills and seeking discussion, but the House Education Committee has refused to hear it in committee nor discharge the bills to the house floor for discussion or a vote.
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“At the same time, officers and the students they protect can’t get the substantive support they deserve from their state government,” Rep. Harris said in a statement. “After more than a year, the House Education Committee still hasn’t held a hearing on our bipartisan school safety and mental health plan. Expressing our appreciation for SROs is the very least we can do, but Democrats refused.”
Rep. Donni Steele (R-Orion) shared with Michigan News Source her involvement in the bill package.
“We took this whole package of bills that was created in a bipartisan package and went to committee, and it’s as one of my colleagues calls it, ‘death by committee,’ it just sits there, it’s not even brought up or discussed in education, it hasn’t even been gone through,” she said in an interview with Michigan News Source.
She said it was “disappointing” that the bills have been in committee for over a year.
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