School safety bill: The Senate Rules Committee passes a $400 million school safety bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in schools, raise the legal age to purchase firearms to 21, require a three-day waiting period on gun purchases, bolster mental health treatment and increase the number of school resource officers. But the committee rejects an amendment that would ban all assault rifles. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. Palm Beach Post. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida. GateHouse. The Broward County Commission wants to explore just how far it can go in regulating guns and ammunition at the county level. State law now says that local officials who try to impose stricter gun regulations than the state's can be fined and removed from office. Miami Herald.
Funding school safety: Florida politicians are pointing to improved mental health treatment and more police officers in schools as ways to address school security. But the state has traditionally underfunded both. In 2016, there was just one school psychologist for every 1,983 students in the state, according to 2016 data from the Florida Association of School Psychologists. The recommended ratio is between 500 and 700 students per psychologist. And while there are about 4,000 schools in Florida, there are just 1,518 armed school resource officers. Tampa Bay Times.
House inquiry: The Florida House House Public Integrity & Ethics Committee will launch an investigation into the actions of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the Broward County School Board, Broward County government, the Coral Springs Police Department and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office before and during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting Feb. 14. It will be separate from the query the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will conduct at the request of Gov. Rick Scott. News Service of Florida. Scott is resisting calls to immediately suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, saying he will wait until the FDLE investigation is complete before making a decision. Fort Myers News-Press.
