NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Lee’s $30 million effort to put a priority on having a resource officer in every Tennessee public school won easy approval Thursday from state lawmakers.
After senators approved the bill on a 29-0 vote, the House gave final approval to Senate Bill 803, voting 97-1 to send it on to Lee’s desk.
Building on last year’s efforts by former Gov. Bill Haslam, Lee wants to provide more security for students and teachers in an era of mass school shootings that have rocked communities across the country.
Lee is asking for another $30 million to be placed into the school safety grant fund to address the estimated 500 schools statewide that don’t have a resource officer. Of that, $20 million is in one-time money and the rest would be recurring funding.
Combined with last year’s action, the fund would be at $40 million.