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Michigan House passes post-Parkland school safety bills

Posted at 4:23 PM, May 08, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-08 16:23:07-04

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s first school safety reform since the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting passed the House on Tuesday, advancing the state’s most sweeping campus security protocols yet.

Lawmakers shuffled forward the bipartisan five-bill package to create a school safety commission under the Michigan State Police. The commission would pioneer statewide safety standards for school buildings, grade them based on new metrics and provide funds for campuses that need upgrades.

The package also requires active violence response training for all law enforcement officers and annual mandatory reports on threats of violence to state police — the latter of which Democrats voted against.

The five bills passed the GOP-controlled House almost three months after the U.S.’s deadliest school shooting in five years claimed 17 lives inside a Florida high school. The package now heads to the Senate.