Michigan House Bill HB4199

Michigan 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/11/25
• Refer: 3/11/25

Caption

House Bill 4199 of 2025

Summary

HB 4199 amends Michigan’s State School Aid Act for fiscal year 2024-2025 to update the education budget and create a dedicated funding line for school safety technology. The bill appropriates state school aid, general fund dollars, and several restricted funds for public schools and related education purposes, and it adjusts the general fund amount from $78.83 million to $85.53 million in the section text provided. It also requires that general fund money be spent before state school aid fund money for the article’s purposes, and it directs any unspent general fund allocations at year-end into the School Aid Stabilization Fund. A major new provision, section 97n, allocates $6.7 million from the general fund for public and nonpublic schools to implement a mobile panic alert system in each school, as required by the Revised School Code. The allocation is structured as a work project appropriation, allowing unspent funds to carry forward into 2025-2026, with an estimated completion date of September 30, 2027. The bill is tie-barred to HB 4198 or a corresponding Senate bill, meaning it would not take effect unless the related legislation is enacted. The bill’s impact on state law is primarily fiscal and administrative rather than regulatory: it revises the annual school aid appropriations for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and creates a specific appropriation mechanism for school panic alert systems. It affects the distribution and use of funds under the State School Aid Act, the School Aid Stabilization Fund, and school safety implementation under section 1308c of the Revised School Code. Public schools and nonpublic schools would be the direct recipients of the panic alert funding, while the state would be responsible for administering the appropriation within the school aid framework. The overall sentiment appears supportive and safety-focused, with the bill framed as a school security and emergency preparedness measure. Even without recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the structure of the bill suggests broad policy intent to help schools comply with a mandated safety requirement and to ensure funding is available for implementation. The tie-bar indicates the funding is part of a coordinated legislative package rather than a standalone initiative. No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcript or vote history, but likely areas of debate would include the cost of the mandate, whether the funding level is sufficient for statewide implementation, and the use of general fund dollars for a school safety technology requirement. Another possible issue is the inclusion of both public and nonpublic schools, which may raise questions about equitable allocation and implementation responsibilities.

Impact

HB 4199 would amend the State School Aid Act’s fiscal year 2024-2025 appropriations and add a new dedicated appropriation for mobile panic alert systems in schools. It changes the general fund amount in section 11, specifies spending order between general fund and school aid fund dollars, and directs any unused general fund allocations to the School Aid Stabilization Fund. The bill also creates section 97n, allocating $6.7 million to public and nonpublic schools for compliance with the Revised School Code’s mobile panic alert system requirement, with carryforward authority as a work project appropriation.

Sentiment

The bill appears generally favorable and noncontroversial in concept, centered on school safety and emergency response readiness. The available materials do not show recorded opposition, committee debate, or vote splits, but the policy direction suggests support for helping schools meet a mandated safety technology requirement. Any concern would likely be about funding adequacy, implementation costs, or the use of state general fund dollars.

Contention

No explicit contention is documented in the provided materials. Potential points of debate include whether $6.7 million is enough to equip all schools, whether the state should fund a mandate that applies to both public and nonpublic schools, and whether the appropriation should come from the general fund rather than other education funding sources. The bill is also tie-barred to HB 4198 or a related Senate bill, so its enactment depends on passage of the companion measure.