House Education committee rejects amendment to remove "personal electronic devices" from H.480

The House Education Committee on Thursday voted in a straw poll, 10-1, to find unfavorable an amendment to H.480 that would have removed the phrase "personal electronic devices," leaving the bill to apply only to cell phones.

Representative Brett McCann of Montclair, sponsor of the amendment, told the committee the change was aimed at simplifying enforcement: "all of the testimony that we took from the field, said that, suggested that we were gonna have better results if we were to keep things simple." McCann said adding other personal devices would place an "extra strain on staff and administration," and called broad coverage "legislative overreach."

The debate focused on enforcement and scope. Representative Hartle asked whether the proposal differed from how schools handle other banned items such as vapes: "I'm wondering what your thoughts are about how this is different than, say, like, vapes, which are also illegal to have in classrooms, but we don't ask teachers to police them." A committee staff member explained procedural consequences of changing the bill: "If the bill is amended, it then has to return to the senate to be dealt with there," and said the Senate could concur, call for a conference committee or send further amendments back to the House.

Committee members noted that the amendment would strike two references to "personal electronic devices" while retaining other provisions of the bill, including social media rules, carve-outs and a McKinney-Vento exception in the model policy. McCann said he and others had heard praise for reduced cell-phone use in some schools, and that local practice and Agency of Education (AOE) testimony cautioned against disrupting effective practices or imposing undue burdens on staff and students.

After a brief discussion and a procedural straw poll, the committee indicated the amendment was unfavorable by a 10-1-0 tally. Committee members and staff reiterated that, if the House floor adopts changes, the bill would return to the Senate and timing—with the chamber's last legislative day coming Friday—could affect the bill's final form.

The committee did not adopt the amendment; the bill's remaining provisions, including the model policy language and carve-outs, were unchanged by the action. Observers and witnesses who testified on enforcement and implementation may still raise concerns as the bill proceeds to the floor and, if amended there, back to the Senate.