U.S. SENATE – Today, U.S. Senators Steve Daines (MT), Orrin Hatch (UT), Marco Rubio (FL), Joni Ernst (IA) Bill Nelson (FL) and Dan Sullivan (AK) and students from Florida’s Parkland High School held a press conference on the STOP School Violence Act. The bill has 35 cosponsors, including 15 Democrats. This bipartisan legislation will work to secure America’s schools by implementing proven, evidence-based programs and technologies that stop school violence before it happens.
“Parents deserve to know their kids are safe at school,” said Daines. “We must prevent future tragedies by passing the STOP School Violence act now.”
The bill permits grants to fund evidence-based programs and practices to:
- Train students, school personnel, and local law enforcement to identify warning signs and intervene to stop school violence before it happens;
- Improve school security infrastructure to deter and respond to threats of school violence, including the development and implementation of anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence;
- Develop and operate school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams; and
- Facilitate coordination between schools and local law enforcement.
The bill would authorize $75 million for FY 2018, and $100 million annually for the next ten years, which may be partially offset from a DOJ research program called the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.
Background:
On March 8, 2018, Daines announced a new proposal, the School Safety & Mental Health Services Improvement Act, legislation to allow 100,000 public schools, including over 800 in Montana, to improve school safety by using federal dollars for school counselors, alarm systems, security cameras and crisis intervention training.
On March 3, 2018, Daines and Senator Orrin Hatch (UT) sponsored the Students, Teachers and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act. This bipartisan legislation secures our schools by implementing proven, evidence-based programs and technologies that stop school violence before it happens.
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