LANSING — This morning the House Education Committee voted to pass House Bill 4206, a bill to forgive school days when there is a cancellation due to an executive order declaring a state emergency. Because this bill would not extend wage protections to hourly school workers, state Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township) voted no and issued the following statement:
“Just as we shouldn’t punish schools for closures due to events outside of their control, we shouldn’t punish the hourly employees — our bus drivers, our janitors, our support staff — who keep our schools running. For hourly staff, it’s not uncommon to go a whole pay period without a full paycheck when school is repeatedly cancelled. When addressing issues like frequent closures, the solutions we create need to touch on every part of the issue, and in this case that means making sure we’re providing these hardworking employees the same benefits as their salaried colleagues.”