LANSING -- The great bake sale debate is drawing to a close in the Michigan Legislature.

Senate Bill 139, which would make Michigan exempt from the ban on bake sales in the federal Smart Snacks in School standards, passed the Michigan House of Representatives 66-43 Wednesday. The bill now goes back to the Michigan Senate for a concurrence vote and, should it pass the upper chamber as it previously did, it will head to the desk of Gov. Rick Snyder to become law.

After passing the Senate with just one "no" vote, SB 139 became the subject of intense debate in the House. A committee hearing where Boy Scouts pleaded with lawmakers to allow them to hold bake sales and a woman attempting to give lawmakers homemade muffins highlighted the debate.

Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, said the bill would help fix a "federal overreach" and called the ongoing debate about the bill "laughable."

"The mere fact this legislative body is deliberating whether we will allow the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to have bake sales in our schools is laughable," Chatfield said.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, would allow the sale of baked goods that don't meet federal nutrition standards. Federal standards implemented this year ban most bake sale items from schools, but states are allowed to pass exemptions to the federal law in the case of fundraisers.

The House version of the bill would allow schools to have two, and possibly more, bake sales in a week. The Senate version makes that level three, and possibly more, bake sales per week.

The Senate bill would consider a fundraiser that is scheduled to take place at more than one time during a school day -- say before class and during lunch -- as one fundraiser. If the same bake sale continued over multiple days that would also be considered one fundraiser.

The House version of the bill says a single bake sale fundraiser must take place within one school day.

The bill is now sent back to the Senate to vote on the changes made by the House.

Rep. Kristy Pagan, D-Canton, was among the Democrats who spoke up about concerns with the bill.

Pagan said she believed the bill would undermine "the ability of our children to lead happy healthy lives."

"We should promote nutritious food during school hours and not increase the availability of unhealthy foods," she said.

Critics of the bill point to Michigan's rate of childhood obesity being above the national rate -- 33 percent as opposed to 31 percent, according to an analysis of te bill by the non-partisan House Fiscal Agency.

Rep. Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, pointed out that multiple groups concerned with children's health testified against the bill in committee. She said the state is in the midst of an obesity crisis, and allowing bake sales in schools would not improve the situation.

"This bill is wrong for our children and wrong for our state," she said.

Five Democrats joined House Republicans in voting for the bill -- Reps. Brandon Dillon, D-Grand Rapids; Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit; Scott Dianda, D-Calumet; Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, and Paul Clemente, D-Lincoln Park. Two Republicans voted against the bill with the rest of the Democrats: Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, and Rep. Ken Yonker, R-Caledonia.

Kyle Feldscher is the Capitol education and MSU reporter for MLive Media Group. Reach him via email at kylefeldscher@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter at @Kyle_Feldscher. Read more stories here.