State Representative Julie Alexander joined WKHM on Friday and gave us a rundown of some of the things lawmakers have been working on recently.

First up, was the Marshall Plan. “100 million dollars is being invested statewide to expand and improve the trade career opportunities.” Alexander said. There is a concern among lawmakers that some may be underemployed, and retraining or learning a new skill is needed to get them to a skill level that allows them to take on a new position or career path.

The next item we discussed with Rep. Alexander was school safety. Alexander said, “Improving school safety is a high priority for everyone. We’re allocating 60 million dollars in three different directions.” The first is the OK2Say program which has morphed from an anti-bullying campaign into a collaborative effort to tackle bullying, suicide, opiate addictions, and school safety. She said that $25 million to grants to improve building security. This will give schools who may not have the funding to address this issue through their own finances the ability to keep students safe. Lastly, $30 million for mental health funding. Rep. Alexander stated, “We must address the mental health component in all of these conversations.”