Senator Bob Casey’s bill concerning hunter education has passed the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support.
The bill looks to reverse the U.S. Department of Education’s guidance that prohibits certain federal education funding for archery, hunting and gun safety education classes and extracurricular school programs. Last June, the Senate passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The act supported common sense gun safety legislation to keep schools safe, protect children, increase mental health supports and reduce the threat of violence in the country. When that came out, the Department of Education interpreted that to prohibit schools from using federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds for hunter safety education and archery classes.
In a statement, Casey called the passage of the bill a win for the state. He said “School archery and hunting education programs are essential to families who pass their traditions of hunting white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and more down from generation to generation,” and that he will keep working to make sure that the funding continues to remain available.
The US House also passed the bill and it is now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
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