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PALMDALE - Following last month’s deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers, Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas introduced the Safe Schools Act, on Thursday.

Nationwide, state education agencies have yet to spend estimated $150.1 billion of the  $189.5 billion in COVID relief funds awarded under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund. According to the US Department of Education, California spent approximately $14.3 billion out of $34 billion received.

The proposed bill would allow COVID-19 relief dollars that have already been allocated to schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund to be used by schools to harden themselves with physical security measures, such as locks, panic buttons, individual room security systems, video surveillance, and hiring and paying the salaries of armed school resource officers.

“Now more than ever, we must be proactive in securing our schools,” Garcia said. “All constitutional options need to be examined to ensure our children are safe in the classroom. I’m proud to join Senator Marshall in introducing the Safe Schools Act, a common-sense bill that would allow schools to spend leftover COVID relief funds on crucial security improvements to protect students from harm.”

Marshall agreed.

“While we made some progress in previous legislation to make our schools stronger, harder and safer, certainly there is more that can and must be done immediately to protect kids,” Marshall said. “What happened in Uvalde was a horrific tragedy. While many have been quick to play politics, one thing we can all agree on is that Congress must act to harden schools. For these reasons, I am introducing this legislation that allows the abundance of unused COVID relief dollars to be diverted to secure schools in Kansas and throughout the nation.”

This legislation would remove the requirement that relief fund expenses must be related to COVID-19.