A new bill 4106 in the state house would reduce barriers for students wishing to work at an internship during high school.
Bill sponsors say the measure would offer high school credits and cut through legislative red tape the currently limits internship opportunities.
Republican State Representative Beau LaFave is the bill's sponsor. He said schools were bogged down from offering internship opportunities.
“There’s a whole laundry list of bureaucratic red tape between doing these. My bill cuts that down to the bare minimum. There would be a general liability policy and pay workers comp.”
LaFave said currently there is a million dollar liability policy for organizations wanting to take on interns - and that, he says, is cost prohibitive.
“We’re going to get into internship experiences and let them see these types of fields that we have to offer in Michigan. And if they don’t like their internship welding well thank goodness we found that out now and not after a two-year apprenticeship.”
LaFave said he is confident the measure will move quickly through the legislature.
He said there is no requirement in his bill that the internships be paid.