State Rep. Mark Tisdel’s bill to get cellphones out of the classroom passed the Michigan House of Representatives today by a wide bipartisan margin.

The bill previously failed when it came up for a vote in July. 53 Republican lawmakers voted in favor, but zero Democrats did, even though Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made it a priority in her 2025 State of the State address. But that was during contentious state budget negotiations and had nothing to do with the merits of the bill, Tisdel said. 

This is the first time this term that a defeated bill came back from the grave and was given another vote.

“Every parent knows that phones are addictive devices. We’ve got to give kids their childhood back,” said Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills.

The bill that passed today is the same deal as the one that got voted down before. Under House Bill 4141, K-12 public school students will be prohibited from using smartphones during instruction time, but they may still use their devices during non-instruction time between classes and during lunch. The reason is so students can still coordinate after-school activities.

The legislation includes a few exemptions: dumb, old-style flip phones are still allowed. It also includes a medical exception and an exception for emergencies.

The legislation does not prevent schools from implementing their own stricter cellphone-use-policy.

H.B. 4141 passed with 99 votes in favor to 10 against, with one not voting. It now goes to the state Senate for consideration. If the Senate acts quickly, there is enough time to get the bill to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk for her signature before her upcoming and final State of the State address.

Next, Tisdel is working on legislation to give parents more control over how their children use social media.