| The 2026 legislative session got off to a strong start this week with a great hearing on a bill I am deeply passionate about. I authored Senate Bill 159 to help parents and schools work together to ensure kids practice healthy online habits that lead to greater educational and life success. The problem this bill addresses is simple: schools ask families to bring Chromebooks into their homes, but unless parents are very tech-savvy, they must rely on decisions schools have made about what content is filtered and what is not. I believe that when a device is in the home, parents—not school administrators—should decide whether and when YouTube or online games may be accessed. Responsible parents already place these limits on their children’s smartphones; a school-issued device should never become a workaround for a family’s rules. Schools already contract with technology companies for filtering services, and these contracts already include the ability for parents to control devices when they are not in school. However, many schools are not sharing this technology—technology they have already paid for—with parents. My bill would require schools to enable parental controls when devices are in the home and to inform parents about the available tools. When devices are used at school, control would automatically return to the school. I have seen these technologies work in my own home. They help ensure homework time is used for homework and filter out content I do not want in my home. I wrote this bill because it combines many of the topics I am most passionate about: parental rights and responsibilities, education, and keeping kids safe online. I expect SB 159 to be strengthened through amendments and then voted out of committee to go before the full Senate next week. In the coming weeks, I will share updates on other bills I am working on. In the meantime, I wanted to include a graphic that highlights the areas where I have been most involved in preparing legislation. |
