Kentucky state Rep. Brandon Reed wants students to reflect on the national motto – “In God We Trust” – so he sponsored legislation to require all schools in the state to display it in a “prominent place.”

“Above our state seal in this room is our national motto,” Reed said at an Education Committee hearing on House Bill 46 last week. “Above the speaker’s chair in our House chamber is the national motto. … On our money that we spend every single day is our national motto.”

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The legislation would task all schools with displaying the motto next school year somewhere students will see it, such as entryways, hallways or cafeterias, with the actual sign in the form of a plaque or student artwork, The Associated Press reports.

“As a student I would love to walk in every day and see ‘In God We Trust’ because it’s not a religious factor, it’s a national factor,” LaRue County student Isaiah Pruitt testified at the hearing.

Another student, Preston Cope, also testified, though posthumously.

The teen was killed a shooting at Marshall County High last year. In the last photo before his death, Cope posed with the motto as part of a school project, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

Reed read a letter from Cope’s art teacher: “For those that did not know Preston, this picture showed who he was, what he believed, what was in his heart: ‘In God We Trust.’”

Several critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, are arguing against the bill to avoid offending anybody.

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Rev. Jason Crosby, a Baptist minister who reminded the committee he was on the board of the ACLU, alleged displaying the message about God “sends a thinly veiled message that only students who believe in God are welcome at their school,” the Herald-Leader reports.

Crosby argued those students could face bullying because the motto would send the message they’re “subordinate” to students who believe in God.

State Rep. Mary Lou Marzian also spoke out against the bill.

“If I thought this would help stop violence, if it would help stop unkindness toward each other, I’d be all for it,” said Marzian, a Democrat.

She argued the motto is displayed in Frankfort, but “it hasn’t stopped sexual harassment one bit in this Capitol.”

Republican Rep. Randy Bridges pushed back on the idea the motto could instigate conflicts between students.

“Just because a word is hanging on a wall is not bullying,” he said.

Bridges believes the motto is an important reminder that could help build relationships.

“And I can’t think of a better relationship for anyone to focus on than their relationship with their God,” he said.

The bill passed the committee and will go before the full House. If approved, Kentucky would join six other southern states – Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Arizona – that have required schools to display In God We Trust in the last year, according to Forbes.