Wisconsin Senate approves Gov. Walker's $100M school safety plan, rejects gun control

Patrick Marley Annysa Johnson Jason Stein

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - In the wake of school shootings around the country, the Wisconsin Senate voted Tuesday to spend $100 million to improve school safety but rejected Democratic efforts to also strengthen gun laws.

Senate Republicans approved the legislation on a 28-4 vote, sending the bill to the Assembly for potential action as soon as Thursday. The Senate vote was bipartisan but the floor debate was sharply divided, with Democrats saying the bill didn't go far enough.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said Tuesday he wanted to take action now on making schools more secure and leave the debate on gun control for later.

"I don’t disagree that this is a national issue and a national debate that needs to continue ... but I’m also not going to pretend we’re going to solve that in the Wisconsin State Senate this evening," he said.

"I can't believe there'd be anybody who'd vote against this bill at the end of the day," Fitzgerald said of the money for schools.

Democrats said the bill missed the point.

"It's something but it's not a heck of a lot," Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) said.

State senators approved the school safety package Tuesday just hours after a student gunman in Maryland opened fire at a school, wounding two students and dying after an exchange of shots with a police officer at the school.

The Senate vote also came five weeks after a gunman used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker unveiled the school safety package last week to broad approval from his fellow Republicans who control the Legislature. But on Monday the proposal appeared in danger of stalling because of internal fights among GOP leaders in the Senate and Assembly.

Kit Beyer, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), said Tuesday that "progress has been made" on the legislation but that GOP lawmakers in that house still need to meet Wednesday to discuss the package.

Last week, students in Wisconsin and around the country skipped class to demand universal background checks on firearm sales and other new regulations on guns. Senate Democrats on Tuesday tried to add those measures to the bill but GOP senators used a procedural move to block that amendment from getting a vote.

"We can put moats around schools," Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) said of the bill. "We can do everything we want to try to keep our kids safe, but we're not dealing with the main (threat)."

Walker's safety plan would provide $100 million in one-time grants to make security improvements to schools, train staff and put police officers in schools.

At a separate Assembly committee hearing on the legislation Tuesday, Democrats asked whether it was appropriate to have the state Department of Justice award the grant money. The head of that agency, GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel, has voiced support for arming teachers.

“I find that disconcerting,” said Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Mt. Horeb). “So, we’re going to give $100 million to DOJ, and they’re going to determine the parameters for that money.”

Republicans said the DOJ has expertise in public safety and would collaborate with the state Department of Public Instruction.

“I don’t believe DOJ would have authority to … come in and say your plan is insufficient because teachers aren’t armed,” said Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon), who sponsored a provision that would require school districts to file their safety plans with DOJ.

In the Senate Tuesday, Republicans attached Walker's plan to an unrelated piece of legislation, Assembly Bill 843, that eliminates a requirement that schools produce reports about a law that can no longer be enforced because of a court ruling.

The Senate school safety bill drops a Walker-backed requirement that parents be notified about cases of bullying within 48 hours. Current law requires schools to notify parents of bullying but does not give a specific time frame for doing so.

Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said the 48-hour limit would have been difficult to implement and enforce.

The Senate's school safety package does not explicitly include funding for police officers in schools, as Walker's plan does. Darling said the bill would still provide money for training police.

Other provisions remain in place in the Senate bill, including the creation of an Office of School Safety in the Justice Department and requirements for school officials to report threats and improve safety plans.

The Office of School Safety would help schools and law enforcement develop school safety plans and provide training. It would be staffed by one person under the Senate version of the bill — down from four under Walker's plan.

Under the legislation, teachers, counselors and other professionals would be required to report threats of school violence, just as they are required now to report suspected child abuse.

Walker had called lawmakers into special session to pass his bills, but GOP senators used a different process to vote on the legislation. The governor's package includes Special Session Assembly Bills 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Patrick Marley and Jason Stein reported from Madison and Annysa Johnson reported from Milwaukee.