HANCOCK – The importance of local control loomed over most of the topics brought up in Friday’s legislative luncheon at the Copper Country Intermediate School District.

State Rep. Scott Dianda, R-Calumet, and Kirk Schott, representing State Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, spoke to local superintendents and school board members in the 70-minute session.

The more relevant split on Friday’s issues aren’t Republican or Democrat, but rural versus urban, Schott said. Fittingly, they had mostly overlapping views on the bills being discussed.

They backed Senate Bill 388, which would require the state government to establish the costs of legislation for local governments and schools before they become law, and Senate Bill 390, which would give schools standing to sue under the Headlee Amendment. Casperson sponsored SB 388 and cosponsored SB 390.

Dianda said the bills should enjoy bipartisan support, and predicted action on them would happen before the end of the year.

“We’re going to see more of the discussion, especially for the last six months, in the legislation that has been moving in Lansing,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that moved ahead to get passed out that are of big cost to our taxpayers, and I think there’s going to be more discussion on just what is actually going to be the ultimate cost on legislation to the districts.”