Sen. Rick Scott on Tuesday followed through on his call for armed sentries at every K-12 school in America. The Florida Republican filed the School Guardian Act.
This act would establish a block-grant program administered by the U.S. Attorney General so school districts could access federal funding to place armed law enforcement personnel at all schools, public and private.
Under Scott’s bill, states would actually control the flow of funds once awarded, and would lose any money they don’t spend to ensure all K-12 schools, public and private.
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States would also have to report to the Justice Department annually about the number of law enforcement officers hired using grant funding, as well as the total amount of unused funds returned.
The senator indicated that the funding for the school guardians wuld come from currently unused portions of the $80 billion President Joe Biden got to hire 87,000 new IRS agents in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Scott pledged this bill was coming roughly a month ago, after a transgender man massacred six students and faculty at a Christian school in Nashville.
Scott’s office noted the bill is endorsed by Stand with Parkland, the Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida Police Chiefs Association.
“Following the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, five years ago, we worked hard to make significant changes and establish measures to increase law enforcement in schools,” Scott said in a statement.
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“Thanks to this work, and the landmark legislation we passed, every public school in Florida has an armed police officer, sheriff’s deputy, or an individual who has completed the rigorous training to keep our students safe from harm.”
“The recent shooting of innocent children and educators in Nashville showed us that we need to do better to keep our schools safe, and that starts by bringing effective ideas like our Guardian Program to every school across our nation,” he continued. “These brave individuals are willing and able to step up and protect our kids and teachers from those who wish to do them harm.”
“Instead of spending billions of dollars to expand the IRS to go after American taxpayers, Washington can send a powerful message to parents about our true priorities by dedicating these funds to the School Guardian Act to provide block grants to states so they can increase school security at every school and keep kids safe,” Scott concluded.
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