State House on summer break as Senate returns to work Tuesday

LANSING, MI (WTVB) – State House members are now on a three-week summer break, while their Senate colleagues return to Lansing on Tuesday. The Upper Chamber is expected to devote much of its time on developing a road funding plan in the wake of last month’s defeat of Proposal 1 on a statewide ballot, while considering the $1 billion blueprint of House Speaker Kevin Cotter that already cleared the Lower Chamber. GOP leaders in the Senate are expected to come up with their plan next week. Before they left their break, the state House Education Committee failed to act on a Senate-passed bill that reforms how public school teachers are evaluated. The Lower Chamber already approved a plan that set statewide standards and requirements, while the Senate’s plan was more locally-centered.