Florida Voters Consider Tax Hikes for Safety After School Shooting
- State response didn’t provide enough money to cover the cost
- Democrat in governor’s race seeks $1 billion funding boost
Students walk to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on the first day of school in Parkland, Florida, on Aug. 15, 2018.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A week after the deadliest mass shooting ever at an American high school, thousands of angry protesters flooded the Florida statehouse and pressured the Republican-controlled legislature to back a compromise that tightened some gun laws and dictated new school safety standards.
But the response to the February shooting -- such as staffing schools with armed officers and fortifying buildings -- didn’t come with enough money from the state to cover the costs. Now, districts are asking a third of Florida residents to raise taxes by about $680 million annually when they go to the polls next week. Voters in seven counties, including four of the state’s ten biggest, will decide whether to raise property or sales taxes to fund schools.