ALBANY — As school districts across New York face continuing problems with fake threats and “swatting” incidents, North Country Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, had introduced new legislation that would make such threats a Class D Felony.

In late March and early April of this year, police departments across the state received threats of armed violence and gun-wielding assailants at schools across the state. Districts in St. Lawrence and Jefferson Counties, the Plattsburgh City High School, at middle and elementary schools on Long Island, central New York and in the southern tier all received threats, which prompted massive and rapid police responses. The Lake Placid Middle-High School fielded a fake bomb threat this month.

On Thursday, Assemblyman Jones introduced a bill that would make falsely reporting an incident to police and alleging a deadly weapon is involved a Class D Felony.

This would raise the penalty for falsely reporting a school shooting up from misdemeanor status, which bears lighter penalties, and could give local law enforcement more incentive to pursue the people making the false threats.

“This bill will make people think twice before terrorizing our schools in the future by increasing the penalty for making false reports,” the Assemblyman said.

“I commend law enforcement, school officials, teachers and staff for their response in the moment, but the truth is this never should have happened in the first place, and that is why I introduced this bill to prevent threats like this in the future,” he added.

The state teacher’s unions at-large director Michele Bushey, a Saranac Central School science teacher, said the organization supports the Assemblyman’s bill, and hopes it will help make schools safer by ending the threat of false reports of violence at them.

“On behalf of our NYSUT members and families across New York, it is necessary to hold individuals responsible who threaten the safety of school children and their learning environment with swatting or violence through the use of weapons,” she said.

Assemblyman Jones’ bill has a similar effect to legislation that’s been introduced for the past few years by state Senator Mark C. Walczyk, R-Watertown, who introduced it as an Assemblyman alongside then-Senator Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton. That bill would make it a felony to make a false report to police that illicits a mass armed response from authorities.

It was written after a Watertown family was repeatedly targeted by a stranger their grandson had beaten in the video game “Fortnite.”

Now, the bill is supported by Sen. Walczyk and Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown. It doesn’t have any Democratic cosponsors, making it less likely to receive attention in the state legislature.