On Tuesday, the Senate passed the FY 2013-14 omnibus budget that includes language prohibiting the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) from expending any money to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) or the Smarter Balanced assessment. The House voted out legislation that makes significant changes to the Michigan Merit Curriculum, though the future of the bills is uncertain in the Senate given the public opposition of the Senate Education Committee chair. For its part, the Senate Education Committee held a hearing this week on school safety legislation—known as OK-2-SAY—that would create a statewide hotline for reporting potentially harmful, dangerous or violent activities. The House Education Committee debated and voted out legislation that would require schools to develop cardiac emergency response plans. The bill details what elements should be included in such a plan and would also permit schools to substitute a cardiac emergency response drill for one of their statutorily required fire drills.