The Georgia House will set aside $8 million in bond funding to pay for school security improvements in response to growing concerns about keeping public schools safe from mass shootings.
House Speaker David Ralston’s office said Thursday the money would pay for capital improvements and not personnel hires. Though the specifics haven’t been finalized, that means it could fund new metal detectors, security cameras, new locks and doors and other improvements.
The money would come from a pot of at least $50 million in discretionary spending each chamber typically controls. Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen called on the Senate to match the spending in its fiscal year 2019 budget.
“We are putting $8 million toward this, and we hope our friends in the Senate will match this bond funding and add $8 million more for their bond package,” said McMichen.
The House leader’s decision comes amid new scrutiny into Georgia’s gun laws after 17 people were killed at a Florida high school in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday to call for stricter gun laws, backed by Democratic legislators seeking to outlaw certain types of firearms and revamp background checks.
Those proposals are likely to gain little traction in the Republican-controlled statehouse, though lawmakers may soon consider a smaller update to the state’s firearm database that could make it harder for people struggling with severe mental illness to buy firearms.
Meanwhile, some conservative Republicans are pushing long-shot proposals to require Georgia State Patrol officers at every public school and allow teachers and administrators to carry concealed weapons on K-12 campuses.
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