成人抖阴

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The mother of Alyssa Alhadeff, a student who was killed in her English class during the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, stood before a room full of lawmakers and state officials on Wednesday. 

Lori Alhadeff held a portrait of her daughter in her arms as she applauded Utah for becoming the sixth state to pass 鈥淎lyssa鈥檚 Law,鈥� legislation mandating silent panic alarms in classrooms that are directly linked to law enforcement.

鈥淲e are taking momentous steps forward in safeguarding our children鈥檚 well-being,鈥� Alhadeff said, adding the bill represents 鈥渙ur collective commitment to providing a secure learning environment for every child in Utah.鈥�

Anti-school shooting bill

The 2024 Utah Legislature last month passed , and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed it into law on March 12. The sweeping school safety and security bill includes not only 鈥淎lyssa鈥檚 Law,鈥� but also creates a set of uniform, minimum safety standards all Utah schools must adhere to. It designates armed school employees as guardians, requires threat reporting if employees are aware of a particular safety concern, and links the state鈥檚 SafeUT Crisis Line to Utah鈥檚 intelligence database.

To enact HB84, the Utah Legislature approved $100 million one-time money and $2.1 million in ongoing funding.

To highlight HB84 鈥� along with seven other bills packaged together as legislation that will benefit Utah鈥檚 future generations 鈥� Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson ceremoniously signed the bills on Wednesday at the University of Utah鈥檚 Bennion Center.

HB84鈥檚 sponsor, Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, said his bill is meant to address a reality in the U.S. that 鈥渋sn鈥檛 going away for us.鈥� School shootings, he said, are not a tragedy that 鈥渨e can pretend isn鈥檛 happening.鈥�

He thanked the parents of the Parkland, Florida shooting victims for helping craft Utah鈥檚 legislation and ensuring 鈥渨hen our kids go to school, all they鈥檙e worried about is learning rather than catastrophic violence.鈥�

鈥淭hat isn鈥檛 something that they should have to worry about. But it is something that we do,鈥� Wilcox said. 鈥淚t is a responsibility of parents, the schools, of the adults who can do a lot more to prepare and make sure that they don鈥檛 have to worry about it.鈥�

Henderson stood in for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who originally was expected to attend the signing but was unable to due to a family emergency. His wife, first lady on Wednesday to remove degenerative discs in her neck after 鈥渨eeks of debilitating pain,鈥� according to the governor鈥檚 office.

Henderson applauded HB84 and other bills aimed at improving opportunities for Utah鈥檚 youth and parents.

鈥淲e are a family friendly state,鈥� Henderson said. 鈥淲e care about our children, our educators, our education system. We care about the future. And this is an opportunity that we put our money where our mouth is.鈥�

The full list of bills Henderson ceremoniously signed included:

• provides $1.5 million to provide instruction on child sexual abuse and human trafficking. It was supported by the nonprofit , which hopes it will help reduce sexual abuse.
• allows a state employee to use parental leave for a variety of reasons, including time for a child or an incapacitated adult with whom the employee is assuming a parental role, including foster care. It also allows a state employee to use postpartum recovery leave to recover from a childbirth that occurs at 20 weeks or greater and provides flexibility so they don鈥檛 have to use the leave in a single continuous period of time.
• uses $8.4 million in one-time state money to increase the amount of funding available to teachers for classroom supplies. It provides $500 to go to elementary school classroom teachers and $250 to go to middle and high school teachers specifically for classroom supplies.
• mandates school districts to develop paid leave policies for parental and postpartum recovery. It requires a minimum of three weeks off for someone adopting, becoming a foster parent, a grandparent taking custody, or a spouse of someone giving birth, as well as requiring six weeks of paid postpartum leave for Utahns who give birth.
• uses $8.4 million to give stipends of $6,000 to support educators while they鈥檙e full-time student teachers.
• raises legal standards in child custody cases with the intention of protecting kids from abusive parents. It was named 鈥溾�� after Leah Moses鈥� 16-year-old son, Om Moses Gandhi, who was murdered by Moses鈥� ex-husband.
• uses over $100 million in one-time money and $2.1 million in ongoing funding to increase .  uses $3.3 million to create a pilot project called the , which provides stipends and scholarships to young adults who participate in a year of community service, according to the University of Utah. Participants would receive an hourly stipend and a $7,400 scholarship in exchange for 1,700 hours of service with an approved partner organization.

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