Governor Lee’s voucher bill speeds through committees, could head to House floor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Governor Bill Lee’s school voucher bill, the Education Freedom Act, is moving quickly through the special session.

The $500 million plan would give 20,000 students about $7,000 each in public dollars to help them pay for private school.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, the House gaveled into session for a second reading of the bill. They then broke into three committees to vote.

Gov. Lee’s voucher bill quickly went through two committees, the Education Committee and the Government Operations Committee. It is now headed to the House Finance Committee.

If the third committee passes it, it will go to the House floor.

Democrats criticized the speed at which the bill is moving through the specially called session and said it will take money away from public schools.

“Anybody that thinks this isn’t going to decrease the amount of money that local school systems get either can’t do math or isn’t being honest,” said State Sen. Jeff Yarbro.

In an interview with WSMV4, House Speaker Cameron Sexton said, “They’re not losing any money, at the end of the day the school systems do not want competition. It doesn’t matter what they are, but the bill design with the floor and the hold harmless when the amendment comes on in committee, there’s gonna be a little tweaking of it, those schools will not lose money if they have disenrollment that’s just not what’s going to happen.”

“The idea that this is going to help impoverished students and students who cannot afford a $22,000 private school bill with $7,000 to supplement is absolutely ridiculous,” said Angela Wynn, a parent against the school vouchers.

Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton said there’s an assumption that everyone going to private school will not get a scholarship from that private school.

“There’s a lot of people currently in our private schools that the private schools are paying for and parents are not paying the full tuition,” Sexton said. “This will allow those schools to offer more scholarships and more opportunities for students to go.”

The bill is now in the House Finance Committee. If the Senate committees pass the bill with the same language it could then proceed to the floor for a final vote as early as Thursday.

Governor Bill Lee is confident the bill will pass.

“What’s most important to me is that the taxpayer get the opportunity to determine where their tax dollars are spent. This not the governments money, it’s the payers money, and it’s put in for the education of peoples children. If they chose to spend those tax dollars in a way that they think is best for their kid, we ought to give them the opportunity to do that,” Lee said.