MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Gov. Scott Walker’s school safety legislation (all times local):
11:15 a.m.
Senate Republicans apparently aren’t sold on Gov. Scott Walker’s school safety legislation.
Walker introduced legislation Thursday designed to enhance campus safety, in part by creating $100 million in new school grants. The legislation doesn’t impose any gun restrictions or mandate teachers arm themselves.
Walker called a special session for the Legislature to take up the bills. The Assembly plans to address them sometime next week in a one-day special session.
But Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald issued a statement saying his chamber would take up its own school safety plan in regular session on Tuesday. Fitzgerald said the plan will “closely align” with Walker’s bills. He didn’t offer any details.
The same bill must pass both houses before Walker can sign it into law. The Senate’s decision to take up something different than Walker’s bill would create delays or prevent anything from getting to his desk.
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10 a.m.
The state Senate’s top Democrat is tearing apart Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s new school safety legislation.
Walker released the bills Thursday. They focus on enhancing school safety but impose no restrictions on guns.
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling issued a news release accusing Walker of ignoring student pleas for gun control. She said the legislation does nothing to improve background checks or keep domestic abusers from obtaining guns. She said failing to address gun control will only lead to more tragedy.
Walker ordered the Legislature to convene in special session to take up the bills. The Senate is expected to vote on the package Tuesday. The Assembly is expected to take them up sometime next week.
Republicans control both chambers, making passage all but certain.
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9:45 a.m.
The state Assembly’s top Republican says the chamber will reconvene next week to take up Gov. Scott Walker’s new school safety legislation.
Walker introduced the bills Thursday morning and called a special legislative session to address them. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos issues a news release minutes later saying the chamber will take up the bills next week in a one-day special session. He didn’t say what day.
The Assembly finished its regular two-year session last month but Vos said in the release he was pleased walker called a special session because nothing is more important than student safety.
The state Senate’s last floor period of its regular two-year session is Tuesday. A spokesman for Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald didn’t immediately reply to an email inquiring about whether the chamber will take up the school bills that day.
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9:30 a.m.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker is introducing a package of legislation designed to enhance school safety.
Walker unveiled the proposals Thursday morning. They include establishing an Office of School Safety within the state Justice Department, creating a $100 million school safety grant program and requiring mandatory child abuse reporters to report threats of school violence as well.
Other bills in the package would require the Office of School Safety to use trauma-informed care principals in any training it offers, require schools to bolster safety plans and allow schools to share live video streams with police without violating student privacy laws.
The package does not include any gun control provisions or plans to arm teachers.
Walker called a special legislative session Thursday to address the proposals.
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