1 week Ago
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas House gave unanimous initial approval Monday to a bill known as the Uvalde Strong Act. House Bill 33 aims to improve active shooter response at primary and secondary schools. The bill's author, State Rep.
Don McLaughlin (R-Uvalde), was Uvalde’s mayor during the Robb Elementary School shooting in 2022, which killed 19 students and two teachers. Nearly 400 law enforcement officers waited 77 minutes to breach a classroom and kill the gunman. “HB 33 addresses these failures head-on,” McLaughlin said on the House floor on Monday, surrounded in support by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
The bill creates a statewide protocol for active shooter situations at schools. It also requires joint training exercises, clear chains of command, and real-time coordination between law enforcement and school districts. It will also require agencies to appoint a public information officer certified in emergency communications.
“It’s critical,” McLaughlin said, answering questions from Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso). “In Uvalde, in four days, the story changed five times.
” McLaughlin also told Moody the clearest answers he got were from a report released by a special House committee in 2022 that investigated the Robb Elementary School shooting. Moody served as vice chair of that committee, alongside House Speaker Dustin Burrows as chair. “There’s nothing that anybody on this floor could say that would undo the tragedy of what happened in your community," Moody told McLaughlin.
"But I think it’s important that it’s your first bill on this floor that is a direct response to the failures that took place that day, and I’m grateful for the work you did on this." McLaughlin said he worked with law enforcement agencies for six weeks to smooth out any friction over the bill. HB 33 still needs one more vote in the House, typically a formality, before heading to the Senate.
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