Gretchen Whitmer wants to limit cellphones in Michigan schools, tax vapes

• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to call for school restrictions on cellphones, vape tax
• Both proposals expected to be part of Wednesday night's State of the State Address
• At least 16 states already ban or limit cellphone use in classrooms

LANSING — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to use her Wednesday night State of the State Address to call for a new law limiting cellphone use in school classrooms and to reiterate her pitch for a new tax on nicotine products like vapes. 

Whitmer intends to note cellphone use has “detrimental effects” on the “mental health and educational outcomes” of young people, and she’ll call on lawmakers to pass legislation limiting — but not outright banning — their use in schools, her office told Bridge Michigan. 

While Michigan has no uniform policy, some districts have already taken steps to restrict cellphone usage in the classroom. In Avondale Middle School in Rochester Hills, for example, students must keep the devices in magnetically sealed bags during the day, and educators have been pleased with the results.

State Rep. Mark Tisdel, R-Rochester Hills, introduced a proposal for statewide cellphone restrictions in schools last year, but the legislation did not advance amid Democratic control of the state legislature. 

The number of states with similar restrictions is growing quickly. At least 16 currently ban or limit cellphone use in classrooms, including Indiana and Ohio, where legislators last year passed bipartisan laws requiring school districts to establish policies.

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In Ohio, school policies must "emphasize that student cellphone use be as limited as possible during school hours” and "reduce cellphone-related distractions in classroom settings." There are exceptions for devices used in learning or for health monitoring.

Some studies have found links between heavy cellphone use and teen depression, but there is no definitive consensus and some parents have advocated for continued access as a line of communication in emergency situations. 

The governor is scheduled to deliver her annual address to the Legislature on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It will be the sixth State of the State of Whitmer’s tenure and her second-to-last before her second and final term ends in 2026. 

Whitmer is also set to mention a proposal to extend the taxes currently placed on tobacco products to other addictive nicotine products like vapes and oral pouches, such as ZYNs.

She first rolled out the tax idea during her budget proposal in early February. It would bring the 32% wholesale tax placed on goods like cigars to nicotine-containing products that previously escaped the tobacco tax.

Whitmer is tying the tax to the theme of adolescent mental health by noting the products’ growing use among young Michiganders.

A 2024 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found about 6% of youths use e-cigarettes while close to 2% use nicotine pouches. One in 29 middle school students nationwide reported using vapes in the past month, while the same is true of 14% of Michigan high schoolers.

Early Republican reaction to Whitmer’s vape tax proposal has not been positive. Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, a Republican gubernatorial candidate from Porter Township, said the tax would be used to “continue financing her spending sprees and corporate welfare.”

Her office said proceeds from the tax would go toward funding smoking prevention efforts, youth health programs, cancer prevention and other healthcare programs.