The Rollout of Alyssa's Law *with podcast 🎧

Emerson Levy is an attorney and politician serving as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for the 53rd District, which covers the north side of Bend, Tumalo, Sisters and the southwestern part of Redmond.

Levy championed an effort she called “Alyssa’s Law,” which passed as part of House Bill 5014, giving $2.5 million for Oregon Schools to install panic alarm systems to alert first responders to all type of emergencies in the interest of keeping schools safer.

The law mandates that all public elementary and secondary school buildings are equipped with silent panic alarms that directly notify law enforcement. The law is named in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff, a student who lost her life in the Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School shooting in 2017.

Levy joined us on our Bend Don’t Break podcast recently to talk about the rollout of the law.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Source Weekly: What is Alyssa’s Law and why did you find it important to take this on as a first-year legislator?

Emerson Levy: Alyssa’s Law came to me through Alyssa’s mom. We met through different people and our worlds connected. So, I was working on this before I even came into the legislature, and it’s just such a passion for me that our kids be safe in school, but I’m also a pragmatist at heart. I thought, “What can we do that’s realistic, that we can get everyone behind, that we can do now that’s cost-effective and doesn’t make our schools look like a prison?” That was really important to me.

I think when people hear “panic alarm” they think of like something under your desk that you push and like the FBI runs in. That’s like an old-school version. Maybe the concept is the same, but the technology is quite different…it gives the exact geolocation and then it alerts every single person and authority.

SW: What is the timeline? Is there a timeline?

EL: There is. What we’re doing right now is the rulemaking, which is done by the executives. What we’re going to do is probably follow Texas, which did a grant program. You just say, “hey, we want this,” and you get the check. But, it’s better for the state to do a couple contracts with a couple vendors. It brings down that cost a lot and then they can pick.

SW: What was the vote on the bill?

EL: It was interesting. Because of the walkout, I went to the speaker, and I said, “This is the most important thing to me, this is why I came here. I’ll let go of the bill, will you put it in a budget note?” … We were able to take basically the bill and put it in a budget note. We’ll come back in the short session and just put it in official statute, but it is there in the education budget.

SW: Once this comes out and the funding is available, what’s your vision for when you see this implemented across Oregon?

EL: My guess is next school year. There are other schools that already are getting a leg up…It just depends on the school. Our hope is by the spring, that schools can start deciding what vendor they want to choose from the couple that are available. And then, who do they want to be on the contact list. Those kinds of things.

SW: How would you talk about your experience as a freshman legislator? Were there things that you weren’t expecting? What surprised you the most?

EL: Now I feel like I really know what I’m doing. So, I’m gonna do it again. And I feel very loyal to the people in House District 53… I am here only by the grace of the people, and I will stay with them as long as they’ll have me.

SW: What do you say to other people interested in getting into politics who have similar aspirations?

EL: I say just go for it. I mean, just swing for the fences. That’s always been my motto, just try. The worst anyone ever can tell you is no. Also, you don’t have to run for office to make change, either. I would go in clear eyed that it is a full-time commitment. You might even lose money on the job. It’s an incredible burden on your family. But if it’s what you love, it’s wonderful.

SW: When you stepped into that role, was it what you had expected?

EL: I privately was dealing with cancer at the same time as my race. I didn’t find out I was cancer free until the day after I won the election… I just had such perspective that no matter what happens from here, I’m going to be OK. And it let things wash off in a way that I think it ended up being like, a mitzvah to me because it kept me grounded in a very different way.

This article appears in Source Weekly September 14, 2023.