Michigan State Representative Steven Ehardt (R-Dist. 83) has introduced legislation to overturn that state's questionable criminal background check requirement for flight students established last year. AOPA staff, led by Great Lakes regional representative Bill Blake, has worked closely with Rep. Ehardt, a pilot and AOPA member, to craft House Bill 4704. It would remove the background check requirement and replace it with some commonsense security measures for flight schools.

"While AOPA will continue to press its federal lawsuit to overturn the current law, our hope is that Rep. Ehardt will be able to eliminate the law with this new legislation," Andy Cebula, Senior Vice President of Government and Technical Affairs. "We are extremely appreciative of the efforts by Rep. Ehardt, his staff, and the bill’s co-sponsors, Reps. Daniel Acciavatti, Jack Brandenburg, Fran Amos, and David Robertson."

The legislation is currently before the Michigan legislature’s House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.

FMI: www.aopa.org, http://michiganlegislature.org