LANSING — Today, House Bill 5626, which eliminates the requirement that all public schools to benefit from a proposed millage be listed on the ballot, drastically reducing transparency in government funding, passed the House. In response, state Rep. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), issued the following statement:
“The only way for voters to make an informed decision about where their taxpayer dollars are going is to give them full disclosure. It seems like a simple concept because it is. We cannot expect people to know what they are voting for if we don’t tell them.
“This bill is yet another continuation of the leadership’s attack on our public schools. This Legislature has already expanded regional enhancement millages to include charter and cyber schools, depleting the funds to our traditional public schools. Now they want to hide where the voters’ money is going. This is unacceptable. The first step in educating the thinkers and leaders of tomorrow is properly funding the schools they’ll attend, and this legislation woefully muddies the waters about what that funding will look like. Every child deserves access to a world-class education. My House Democratic colleagues and I will continue fighting against any legislation that jeopardizes that access.”