(The Center Square) – In an act of bipartisan unity, the Michigan House passed a bill on its first day of the 2026 legislative session banning all K-12 students from using cellphones during school.
House Bill 4141, which failed to pass last summer, was reintroduced Wednesday and passed with 99 yes votes. There were only 10 no votes.
Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, told TCS in an exclusive interview that this was a positive way to start off the session.
“It’s proof that, if you do the necessary work in a cooperative manner, we can pass big pieces of legislation in an election year,” Tisdel said. “People might have to give up on worrying so much about who gets credit and just focus on what makes sense and what’s the right thing to do.”
The bill will amend the Revised School Code to require the boards of all public and charter schools implement a wireless communications device policy. For students enrolled in elementary or middle school, the policy will have to prohibit use of a phone on school grounds during:
• Instructional time
• Breaks between instructional time
• Lunch
• Recess
For students enrolled in high school, the policy will have to prohibit the use of a phone only during instructional time.
These are the minimal requirements that schools will be directed to adopt. They are allowed to adopt more stringent requirements. There are a number of exceptions laid out in the legislation, including for medically-necessary devices, district-owned devices, and more.
While many states have adopted some sort of cell phone policy for schools, this will be one of the more strict versions.
“This is a very big deal,” Tisdel said. “This is every K-12 public school classroom across the state and every student.”
Tisdel first introduced the bill in the 2024 legislative session, but it never received enough support from Democrats to move forward. After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, expressed her support for such legislation in her 2025 State of the State address, he decided to reintroduce it.
Last July, Tisdel brought another version of the bill to the House for a vote. At that time, he fully expected it to pass with bipartisan support, but ended up missing the mark by just three votes.
Tisdel blamed politics and a breakdown in communication for the bill’s failure, as previously reported by TCS.
This time around, Democrats and Republicans were on board with the bill, which serves as an olive branch going into what will likely be a contentious election year for Michigan politicians.
The bill is now headed to the state Senate for its consideration. Tisdel said he has been working with the Democrat majority there to ensure their support for the bill and he is hopeful it will quickly make its way into law.
“The governor has been very much for securing legislation of this sort,” he said. “So, there is an opportunity now to pick this up quickly in the Senate, pass it, and get it on to the governor’s desk.”
