State Rep. Jaime Greene, Republican vice chair of the House Education Committee, today voted against the Democrat state budget, which included a 90% cut to mental health and school safety funding.

“School safety is a priority for every single parent who has a child in our schools,” said Greene, R-Richmond. “Why did the governor and the Democrat majority cut this critical grant program?”

The Democrats’ new budget cuts school safety and mental health grant funding by more than $300 million, leaving just $26.5 million to help schools fund resource officers, mental health services, and other critical programs that protect kids.

“We should be investing more on school resource officers, not less,” Greene said. “Parents send their children to school with the expectation that they will be safe. Slashing funding for school safety programs will leave our schools unprepared.”

Democrats also eliminated funding for the School Safety and Mental Health Commission created following the horrific shooting at Oxford High School to help identify best practices for schools to address behavioral, physical, and mental health needs.

“Eliminating the School Safety and Mental Health Commission is a step backward in our efforts to protect students,” Greene said. “We owe it to our kids to continue identifying and implementing the best safety practices.”

The new state budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 was pushed through the House early this morning in two party-line votes.

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