Michigan LEAD-K bill approved by House committee
Michigan LEAD-K bill approved by House committee
The Michigan LEAD-K bill was approved by the Michigan House Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors in a *8-1 vote on Tuesday.
The bill, HB 5777, had three minor changes to it to make it into a substitute bill but the changes did not have any major impact on the main thrust of developing resources for parents or guardians of deaf or hard of hearing children to monitor and track the child’s language acquisition in ASL, English, or both. One of the changes was to move the start date of the program from 2024 to 2025.
The Michigan LEAD-K committee spokesperson Freida Morrison said they have no objections to the substitute version. She said the full House will vote on the bill after the Easter recess.
There was some drama during the committee vote when a former president of the Michigan Chapter of the A.G. Bell Association interrupted the proceeding to try and make a comment before the vote, but he was shut down by the committee chair because the time for testimony had already come and gone. The committee then voted the bill through.
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The Michigan Department of Civil Rights’ Division on Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Director Annie Urasky said in a press release that “This bill, if it becomes law, will provide parents with critical information and educational resources, empowering them to make fully informed decisions that will directly impact their child’s language acquisition and developmental milestones.” In a statement of support, she said “It will have a positive, long-term impact on the lives of students who are deaf, deaf blind and hard of hearing and their families.”
If the bill passes a full Michigan House vote, it will then move on to the Senate, where it will be taken up by a Senate committee.
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https://www.house.mi.gov/VideoArchivePlayer?video=FAMI-032222.mp4