Florida lawmakers continue to seek federal policy changes 8 years after Parkland tragedy

On the anniversary of the Parkland shooting, leaders in Florida’s congressional delegation launched policy efforts to honor victims.

U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, the dean of the state’s delegation, announced he would push for passage of “Alyssa’s Law,” named for Parkland victim Alyssa Alhadeff who died at age 14 at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High mass tragedy eight years ago. On Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and killed 17 people, including 14 students.

“I’m proud to continue my work in school safety, this time as co-sponsor of Alyssa’s Act, which will establish national school safety standards, including silent panic alarms directly linked to law enforcement,” said Díaz-Balart, a Hialeah Republican.

That bill is carried this year by U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah, who crafted the legislation with Díaz-Balart and in consultation with Alyssa’s parents, Lori and Ilan Alhadeff, and with Max Schachter, whose son Alex Schachter also died in the shooting.

“Our children are our future and our most important national resource. Alyssa’s Act will save lives, plain and simple,” Burgess said. “I am grateful for the bipartisan support we’ve gathered on this bill that would disseminate the best evidence-based practices, resources, and tools available to us to help keep our students safe in the hands of schools and districts across the country.”

Lori Alhadeff serves now as CEO of Make Our Schools Safe. She said the bill will honor her daughter’s memory while making campuses sanctuaries from violence.

“Alyssa’s Act sets clear, lifesaving standards for emergency response in our schools because when seconds matter, there is no time for confusion. Every classroom deserves a direct line to help,” she said. “These standards are not optional, they are the difference between chaos and coordination, between tragedy and lives saved.”

The push for this bill comes as U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat, presses Congress to take up the Measures for Safer School Districts (MSD) Act. He stood alongside Tony Montalto and Tom Hoyer, founders of Stand with Parkland and also fathers bereaved by the Parkland shooting.

Montalto said while in Washington, Stand with Parkland expected to meet with Díaz-Balart and with U.S. Sens. Ashley Moody and Rick Scott about policy matters involving school safety. They also had meetings with the Domestic Policy Council and Department of Homeland Security.

He noted that the families around Parkland have been more successful in securing policy responses to tragedies than those impacted by nearly any other mass shooting. Successes included Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act and the federal Luke and Alex Public Safety Act, the latter named for shooting victims Hoyer and Schachter.

Max Schachter said more work remains on the horizon. He stressed that the bill sponsored by Díaz-Balart and Owens has the potential to make schools safer, an agenda none in Congress oppose.

“In an emergency, every second matters. During the Parkland school shooting, by the time law enforcement arrived 24 people had already been shot and/or killed — including Alyssa and my little boy, Alex,” Schachter said.

“No family should ever endure that kind of loss. Every teacher needs the ability to immediately alert everyone on campus including law enforcement.”