LANSING – State Senate Republicans abandoned an anti-bullying bill dismissed as a “license to bully” by Democrats, and on Tuesday instead adopted a more comprehensive version already approved by the state House.

The measure, which requires all school districts to have anti-bullying policies, now heads to Gov. Rick Snyder, who called for such a plan in April.

The vote was a victory for Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, whose passionate floor speech went viral after being posted on the Internet, attracting national attention to the issue.

Whitmer said the 34-2 Senate vote came after negotiations with House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, and Snyder. State Sens. Mike Greene, R-Mayville, and Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, voted in opposition.

“It's a victory for me, but more importantly, it's a victory for students across the state,” she said after the vote. “People started calling my office to tell me their stories. I had one doctor from Kalamazoo who told us about his experience being bullied in school. He said he never told anyone about it. I still get chills thinking about it.”

The Senate's first version of the bill was criticized because of a provision that said students cannot be punished for “a statement of a sincerely-held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.”

Democrats said that language “gutted” the legislation, which they said would otherwise have better protected students, especially those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

But the House version says no child should be bullied for any reason, and representatives said the bill was needed because parents believe their local schools aren't doing an adequate job addressing the problem.

The bill requires districts to have a bullying policy within six months and calls for informing parents of both parties involved in a bullying incident.

The Senate bill was called “Matt’s Safe School Law” after Matt Epling, an East Lansing student who killed himself in 2002 after being bullied. But his father said he was “ashamed” of the law and that the lawmakers “tarnished the memory of the person the bill is named after.” But Kevin Epling has said he supports the House version.



State Superintendent Mike Flanagan

was among the vocal critics of the original Senate bill, but “applauded” Tuesday's vote.

“The protection of our children from physical and emotional harm is a moral obligation and responsibility of everyone,” he said in a release. “This has been an emotional issue and I appreciate the Senate showing the leadership to reconsider its position today and completing this cooperative process with respect to every side the debate for the protection of all school children.”

Whitmer said the bill still doesn't offer as much protection as she would like to see, and will continue to push for tougher protections.

“But when you consider where we were, this is a good step,” she said. “For the Senate to take this up first thing after a break shows something.”

E-mail Dave Murray: dmurray@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterDMurray