We can’t say we didn’t see this coming.
By the time you read this, without some successful, last-minute negotiations, Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act will be dead for this year. At least, that’s what Senate Education Chairman Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, was predicting earlier this week.
“I think if we don’t have something by this weekend … ,” he said. “We’ll know by this weekend if we’re going to be able to move something next week. Then I’d be worried. It’s too big a deal to just patchwork at the last minute.”
Bills dealing with the legislation in several state Senate and state House committees passed in early March, but then legislators moved on to other things — like preventing first cousins from marrying. Nothing was happening on the education proposal that would allow, within two years, any K-12 student, regardless of family income, to receive a designated amount of money toward attending private schools on the taxpayers’ dime.
A couple of weeks ago, Gov. Lee’s office reached out to this page by email and suggested the governor would be willing to talk about the legislation. We welcomed that but reminded the office that we had not been a supporter because of the proposal’s lack of accountability. However, we were willing to let the governor — within reason — have his say. Yes, the governor’s spokesperson said, the office was aware of our opposition and would get back in touch when the legislation began to move again.