Congress directs more federal highway money to protect students in school zones
H.R. 6821 — Protect Our Students Act · Filed by Dina Titus (D-NV) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Dec 17, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill expands federal highway safety funding to explicitly include school zone safety improvements—crossing guards, traffic lights, speed-reduction measures, and automated enforcement—as eligible uses under existing state highway safety programs. It increases the minimum allocation for these programs from 40% to 50% of available funds, directing more federal money toward reducing student injuries and deaths in school zones.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand federal highway safety funding eligibility and increase mandatory allocation percentages for school zone safety improvements. It is a straightforward public-safety measure with no hidden riders or private carve-outs.
What the text implies
- Automated traffic enforcement (item 8 in the regulations list) may generate revenue for states/localities through citations, creating a potential financial incentive to deploy cameras in school zones—a secondary effect not explicitly addressed in the bill.
- The bill does not specify how the 50% allocation floor interacts with other competing highway safety priorities, potentially creating tension between school zone funding and other safety programs.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
state and local transportation agencies (increased federal funding allocation); traffic safety equipment manufacturers (crossing guard systems, beacons, signage, traffic lights); engineering and consulting firms (school zone audits and assessments)