OAN Geraldyn Berry
UPDATED 2:50 PM – Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Under legislation proposed on Tuesday by Senator Rick Scott, funds allocated for thousands of additional Internal Revenue Service (IRS) workers would be diverted to a grant program enabling schools worldwide to hire armed law enforcement officers.
According to a news release from the senator’s office, the School Guardian Act would divert approximately $80 billion that Congress authorized for the tax agency’s expansion into initiatives to prevent and address school shootings, like the 2018 17-person massacre that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, as well as other recent incidents.
The families of those victims have shown their support for Scott’s plan.
With the help of a block grant program established by the School Guardian Act, the U.S. Department of Justice will be able to pay for the full-time employment of one or more police officers to provide security at each K–12 school across the nation.
“There’ll be an armed police officer or a sheriff’s deputy or an individual who has completed the rigorous training produced through the Guardian program at all these schools,” Scott said.
The program would reportedly be funded by reallocating currently unused portions of the $80 billion appropriated to the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The bill was endorsed by Stand with Parkland, the Florida Sheriffs Association, and the Florida Police Chiefs Association.
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