NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Update: Wednesday, April 24, 2019
The Tennessee House passed Gov. Bill Lee's education savings account bill on the first consideration Wednesday morning.
The proposal, which is now heading to the Senate, is known as a voucher-style program allowing families to take public dollars to pay for private school tuition and other expenses.
It took a dramatic turn in the House Tuesday as Tennessee Republican leaders refused to acknowledge a vote spiking the proposal on the House floor and Senate leaders advocated for a drastically different version.
Speaker Glen Casada refused to accept a 49-49 vote tally that would have spiked the voucher bill. Instead, the vote was not declared official for nearly 40 minutes until Casada had successfully lobbied a fellow Republican, Rep. Jason Zachary, of Knoxville, to change his vote on the electronic tally board, passing the measure 50-48. The last-minute switch was secured behind closed doors on a House patio, where reporters could not go, with Casada, Zachary and other aides and lawmakers.
Zachary later said he eventually agreed to the change because Casada promised him the final version of the voucher bill would exempt his elected home seat of Knox County from being able to distribute education savings accounts. Zachary and some other lawmakers want their home counties removed from the program. Some fear that participating local public schools would receive fewer public dollars in the voucher program.
However, the House version advanced Tuesday includes Knox County and three others in the voucher program. Currently, no legislation exists that would fulfill Casada's promise to Zachary. Instead, GOP leaders say they'll need to tinker with the voucher bill moving through the Senate.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
An already contentious voucher-like proposal took a dramatic turn in Tennessee as Republican leaders refused to acknowledge a vote spiking the proposal on the House floor and Senate leaders advocated for a drastically different version.
Tuesday's action marked the latest evolution stemming from Gov. Bill Lee's education savings account proposal — known as a voucher-style program allowing families to take public dollars to pay for private school tuition and other expenses.
In the House, Speaker Glen Casada refused to accept a vote tally spiking the voucher bill by just one vote. Instead, he held the floor in limbo for more than 30 minutes until he had successfully lobbied a fellow Republican to flip his vote.
Casada's action sparked outcry from Democrats, who argued the decision likely violated the state's constitution.
Knoxville Rep. Jason Zachary, cast the tie-breaker, changing his vote from no to yes. He explained why in a video posted on his Twitter page, saying he was able to negotiate to exclude Knox County from the bill, to hold Knox County fiscally harmless so that teachers can get their raises.
Opponents worry that the highly controversial bill would take education dollars out of public schools and could lead to fraud.
Governor Bill Lee has been a strong advocate of the bill.
Memphis Rep. London Lamar posted the roll call so constituents could see how lawmakers voted: