FRANKFORT, Ky. (WHAS11) – The school safety bill has been hailed as the most important proposed legislation that lawmakers are considering during the Kentucky General Assembly.
On Jan. 8, the full Senate voted unanimously to approve S.B. 1, and now, the House has voted 96-3 to pass the bill as well.
The bill was proposed after a deadly school shooting in Marshall County where Bailey Holt and Preston Cope were shot and killed.
The parents of Holt and Cope made emotional pleas to lawmakers on the school safety bill, saying there should be no higher priority than protecting children.
"You don't ask if you're a Republican or Democrat when you go to a school after a shooting. You want to make sure, or in any type of situation, that people are safe. And that's the number one concern, not politics," Senate President Robert Stivers said.
The bill sets a goal of providing more school resource officers and mental health professionals in schools and creating a new position of a school security marshal.
Because the bill was passed with a committee substitute, it will go back to the Senate for approval.
►Contact reporter Chris Williams at cwilliams@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@chriswnews) and Facebook for updates on the General Assembly.