House, Senate finance panels include voucher funding as bill's fate hangs in the balance
Will Gov. Bill Lee's voucher proposal make it to a final vote?
Its chances look increasingly grim after yet another day without a significant committee vote on the measure.
The Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee, which had been scheduled to take up the bill Monday, was bumped to Tuesday after the committee's preceding meeting was delayed by nearly two hours, around the time Senate leaders were seen leaving Lee’s office Monday.
On Tuesday, the finance committees in both the House and Senate passed versions of the state budget that includes $144 million to initiate a voucher program, whether or not legislation actually establishing it is ultimately adopted.
"Our assumption is that bill is still alive," Senate Finance Committee Chair Bo Watson, R-Hixson, told committee members Tuesday. "The governor's education program is funded in the governor's budget and continues to be funded in the budget."
Senate Bill 503/House Bill 1183 was on the calendar for the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, but Watson bumped the legislation to the end of the calendar "as conversations continue." Watson later adjourned the committee without taking up the bill, saying the committee has "done all of its business."
Members of the House Finance Subcommittee also approved a budget that includes $144 million for the program ― a notable departure from the House's nearly $400 million Education Freedom proposal, which reallocated significant funding for public schools toward teacher health benefits and facilities maintenance.
"That money is there," House Finance Committee Chair Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, said. "If the program is worked out, the commitment would be to not expend more than that. If for some reason it doesn’t work out, then again, those dollars will still be set aside and they'll be there to be used next year or to be used to close out budgets."
The bill remains on the House Finance Subcommittee on Wednesday, but there's no indication the Senate and House have made progress towards a deal.
If lawmakers adjourn for the year without taking up the proposal, the legislation will be dead, as a new General Assembly will be sworn in after elections this fall. The governor could call the legislature back for a special legislative session to take up the matter, though doing so would likely not be welcomed, as it would call lawmakers off the campaign trail.
Republican leaders have repeatedly signaled optimism in recent weeks, but the bill has been delayed in committees for nearly a month, with little indication the two chambers had inched closer to a compromise on some of the major sticking points of the massively differing bills.
The Tennessee Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday the voucher proposal was dead. No one has indicated any significant progress has been made on the proposal, and the mood among Republicans in the Capitol on Monday was less than optimistic as suggestions of the bill's demise spread while both chambers were in session. But House negotiators publicly insisted the conversations were ongoing on Monday evening.
"It's the governor's bill, and until you hear from the governor that it is not moving forward, then the assumption is it's going forward," said House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, after the House session Monday.
"We are still negotiating with the Senate," Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, told The Tennessean in a text message just after the Senate adjourned Monday.
Lee's office did not respond to a Tennessean request for comment on the issue.
House and Senate Democrats shared both approval and skepticism that the effort would be completely shuttered this session.
"I'll believe it when I hear sine die and the gavel bangs the session close," Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, wrote in a social media post. "We need to keep the fight against vouchers until the Legislature adjourns for the year!"
House and Senate leadership have negotiated for weeks in an effort to close a vast gap in policy and funding for the governor's highest priority bill – but so far with no success.
The House version seeks to make sweeping reforms to public school testing requirements, teacher and principal performance assessments, and increase the state’s contribution to teacher health benefits — in addition to establishing the $144 million voucher program.
Related: Inside the web of special interest groups pushing for expanded Tennessee school vouchers
Senators want to require students who participate in the voucher program to participate in achievement testing, and allow out-of-county public school enrollment. Lee has pushed for establishing a voucher program without testing requirements.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee school vouchers: Bill's fate hangs in the balance
