LANSING – The Michigan Supreme Court says it will decide once and for all whether the Michigan Legislature can appropriate public money for private schools.

And in making that determination, the court will consider a 2017 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that suggests a state ban on funding for private schools could violate a U.S. constitutional provision intended to protect religious liberty.

At issue is a series of Michigan budget moves in recent years in which the GOP-controlled Legislature has appropriated millions of dollars to reimburse private schools for costs they incur to comply with state mandates, such as health and safety regulations.

In an order released Tuesday, the court said it will hear an appeal of the Michigan Court of Appeals October 2018 ruling. In that 2-1 decision, the court said the Legislature may reimburse private schools for the costs to comply with state health, safety and welfare laws, but only if such costs are incidental to teaching and don't involve a key school function.

Earlier, in April 2018, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens said the appropriations violate a state constitutional provision that says:"No public monies or property shall be appropriated or paid ... directly or indirectly to aid or maintain any private, denominational or other nonpublic, pre-elementary, elementary or secondary school."

In Tuesday's order, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman said the court needs to resolve the long-standing issue once and for all.

"The court owes the parties, and the people of this state, a final decision in this case that fairly considers all inextricably connected issues," Markman wrote.

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"The need to fully and finally resolve the present dispute has been made especially critical by the fact that it has now been nearly three years since the Legislature (first approved such funding) and since a lower court of this state issued a preliminary injunction preventing that law from taking effect."

It's important, Markman said, that "our legislative process is no longer maintained in limbo."

Justice Elizabeth Clement will not participate in the decision because of her previous role as legal counsel to former Gov. Rick Snyder, the court said.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan is appealing the October ruling, along with a coalition of school groups.

"Not only is this attempt to fund parochial and private schools unconstitutional, it diverts tax dollars from the public schools they're intended to fund at precisely the time when our public schools need resources the most," said Dan Korobkin, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Michigan.

In the 2017 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Missouri Department of Natural Resources policy of denying grants to applicants owned or controlled by a church violated the First Amendment rights of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia to freely exercise its religion. The policy denied the church an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status, the court said in a 7-2 ruling.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.