HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania lawmakers want schools to have the authority to display the national motto – In God We Trust – in classrooms and school buildings to better connect students to America’s roots.

State representatives passed the National Motto Display Act to give public schools the option of displaying the national motto, as well as the Bill of Rights, in a 179-20 vote, and the legislation now sits in a state Senate committee, the Philly Voice reports.

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It’s already legal for schools to display the national motto, and its use has been repeatedly upheld by courts and reaffirmed by Congress. But state Rep. Rick Saccone, a Republican co-sponsor, said many school officials have been conditioned by society to believe schools cannot reference God.

“It’s not a mandatory requirement; in fact, they can already put it up in schools,” he told TribLive. “It’s just that they’re afraid to because they’ve been misled by society. They’ve been beaten down by this idea that they can’t do this and they’re wary.”

“There’s no force being done,” Rep. Chris Dush, the bill’s primary sponsor, told the Voice. “This is a ‘may’ proposition.”

The National Motto Display Act, also known as HB 1640, aims to help with students’ “understanding of and familiarity with American historical documents” while also honoring Pennsylvania’s 13th governor, James Pollock, who originally coined the phrase “In God We Trust,” according to the legislation.

“Pollock suggested the motto “In God We Trust” be featured on all United States currency. This practice first occurred in April of 1864 when Congress approved the use of the motto on United States two-cent pieces. Since then, the motto has been inscribed on most denominations of coins in an uninterrupted period of time extending from 1916 to the present,” the bill reads.

Saccone, who tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation virtually identical to The National Motto Display Act in 2013, told TribLive his hope is school officials will proudly display the national motto as a “unifying force” during divisive times.

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“Our country is very divided today, and celebrating the motto can help unite us,” he said. “Whether you believe in God or not, it’s here to inspire us.”

“This time, I think we’re going to get it through the Senate,” Saccone said. “I don’t think the governor even would dare veto this. It’s too American.”

Critics of the proposal contend putting the national motto up in schools could make atheist students uncomfortable, or it’s religious indoctrination or something.

“If you put ‘In God We Trust’ in the school then you are dictating that there is a God anyway,” Democratic state Rep. Jordan Harris told KDKA. “There are people [who] don’t believe in a Creator, there are people [who] don’t believe in God, and they are entitled — they have the right to believe that.”

“A schoolhouse is not where we should be pushing that issue.”

Atheist groups that routinely sue schools over references to religion also do not like the National Motto Display Act.

“It equates God-belief and religious piety with patriotism, and that’s wrong to do in public schools where students are of all religions and of no religion, and they are young and impressionable,” said Elizabeth Cavell, lawyer with the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, told TribLive.