State & Local Roundup: Republicans Moving to Fund Public School Alternatives

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It’s Friday, Feb. 10, and we’d like to welcome you to the weekly State and Local Roundup. This week, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders drew national attention for delivering the GOP response to President Biden’s State of the Union address. But she was also busy at the state level, rolling out key pieces of her education package and joining many of her fellow Republican governors in calling for the expansion of school vouchers. 

It’s still early in state legislative sessions, but advocates for taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools have already notched several victories in Republican-led states.

“School choice” has long been a top priority for many conservative politicians, who view it as a way to support religious and other private schools and to give families alternatives to public schools. Adding another layer to the debate is that conservatives often chafe at the power of teacher unions, a dynamic that grew even more tense with school closures and safety measures during the Covid crisis.

But the voucher issue has gained more salience this year, as Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have escalated their attacks on public schools for raising awareness of racial inequities and acceptance of LGBTQ people.

The House speaker in Florida is pushing a proposal to establish “universal choice,” which would eliminate income caps currently in Florida’s voucher law. Opponents warn it could cost the state up to $4 billion. The Florida Legislature will likely take it up when it convenes in March. 

In the meantime, though, other states are advancing ambitious proposals of their own.

“There’s a bona fide movement for educational choice and flexibility sweeping the nation,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a longtime proponent of private school vouchers, wrote in The Wall Street Journal. “These states in all parts of the nation are moving this student-centered movement into high gear. Even before the pandemic, parents were demanding more autonomy and greater control over their children’s education.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, said a new voucher program was her top legislative priority for the year, and GOP lawmakers sent her a bill to sign establishing one almost immediately. The new law sets up scholarships of more than $7,500 per student to attend private schools. It would initially apply to lower-income students but eventually be available to all students, regardless of income.

“For the first time, we will fund students instead of a system, a decisive step in ensuring that every child in Iowa can receive the best education possible,” Reynolds said when legislators sent it to her desk. “With this bill, Iowa has affirmed that educational freedom belongs to all, not just those who can afford it.”

It took Utah lawmakers only eight days to create $8,000 scholarships for families who want to send their children to private schools or to teach them at home. The newly created voucher law will be harder to overturn than a similar measure that Utah lawmakers passed in 2007, because this time, voters will not have the chance to overturn it with a referendum. 

In Texas, rural school districts are worried about the potential impact that a school voucher program would have on their finances. But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he and Gov. Greg Abbott are “all in on school choice,” which, if true, would make it difficult to stop.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican who has publicly flirted with the idea of running for president as a moderate, said he would be open to expanding the state’s 2021 voucher program if lawmakers wanted to pursue it. Lawmakers have introduced proposals to raise income thresholds or expand it to groups such as foster children and military families.

Kansas state Rep. Brad Boyd, a Democrat, warned that a proposal to expand vouchers there would come with few safeguards, because it would prevent the state from regulating the content of the instruction the state is paying for.

“Am I to interpret that to mean that someone who’s teaching antisemitic, racist or Nazi materials can’t be factored into that decision?” he asked at a recent hearing.

Thirty-two states and Washington, D.C. have existing programs to help families pay for private schools, but they vary greatly in scope.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has proposed scaling back a major expansion of school vouchers pushed through by her Republican predecessor, Doug Ducey. But Republicans still control Arizona’s Legislature, and they seem unlikely to reverse course so quickly.

Make sure to come back here every Friday for the week’s highlights. If you don’t already and would prefer to get it in your inbox, you can subscribe to this newsletter here. Have a great weekend.

News to Use

Trends, Common Challenges, Cool Ideas, FYIs, and Notable Events

• Court staffing crisis. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers have failed to fill record levels of judicial vacancies, forcing state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to suspend civil and divorce trials in two parts of the state. Meanwhile, the State Bar of Wisconsin last month called the shortage of prosecutors, public defenders and district attorneys there a “constitutional crisis” that could undermine the right to fair and speedy trials.


• Toxic rail crash. Cleanup continues following a 50-car freight train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last Friday that forced evacuations after crews began burning toxic chemicals. Residents have been allowed back into the area, but health concerns are still weighing heavy in the region around the crash site.


• An unconstitutional school system. Pennsylvania schools don’t have the resources to adequately educate all students, and the gaps between the haves and have-nots render the system unconstitutional, a judge ruled Tuesday, delivering a long-awaited decision in a landmark case that could reshape education across the state. The ruling, which offers no remedy, comes nearly a year after the trial concluded, and close to a decade after the lawsuit was first filed.


• 100% clean energy. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday signed a bill that requires the state’s electrical utilities to transition to 100% carbon-free energy sources by 2040. The state joins 21 other states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with the law. But the move has brought a lawsuit threat from North Dakota, where officials say the policy goes too far limiting commerce between states.


• Sports betting. Ahead of Super Bowl LVII this Sunday, officials in New Jersey are implementing what they call a “first of its kind” program that would help identify those with potential gambling problems based on data collected from betting apps. Gaming officials will look at data for gamblers whose play time increases from week to week, who wager until they have less than $1 in their accounts, and who regularly try to self-impose cool-off periods or attempt to ban themselves from gambling using a state registry. A record number of adults are expected to bet on the big event, raking in millions for states.


• Eviction protection. The Los Angeles City Council finalized the last of its new tenant protections Tuesday. Several elements of the package—such as “just cause” eviction protections and a timeline for paying back rent—have already gone into effect, while two other provisions are expected to start in mid-March. Those provisions will establish a minimum threshold for eviction of tenants who fall behind on rent and require landlords to pay relocation fees in some situations involving large rent increases. In Detroit, the city is launching next month a long-awaited program that will provide free lawyers for low-income Detroiters who face eviction.


• Gas stove bans. The simmering debates over gas appliances show no signs of cooling down. In Oregon, the Eugene City Council approved an ordinance to prohibit new natural gas hookups for houses and apartments, becoming the first city in the state to pass such a policy and joining other governments across the country. The decision comes after two years of debate and record-setting levels of public comment. The new policy takes effect in June, and council members indicated they could consider a similar ban on commercial properties in the coming months.


• Billion-dollar accounting error. South Carolina’s top accountant overstated the state’s general fund balance by $3.5 billion due to double counting some of the state’s finances. The error did not throw off the state’s budget writers, who do not use the report where the error appeared. But bond ratings agencies do, meaning the mistake potentially misled Wall Street about the state’s financial health.


• Migrant crisis costs. After months of shifting numbers, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is putting a more specific price tag on the amount the city is spending on shelter and services for asylum-seekers: “$1.4 billion this fiscal year, $2.8 the next. Those are the numbers.” More than 44,000 migrants have come to the city since last April, according to City Hall.


• DEI backlash. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office is warning state agency and public university leaders this week that the use of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is illegal in hiring. Abbott’s chief of staff Gardner Pate told agency leaders that it violates federal and state employment laws, and hiring cannot be based on factors “other than merit.” Meanwhile, Florida judges will no longer need to learn how to try to ensure “fairness and diversity” while applying the law under a rule change that the state Supreme Court adopted by a nearly unanimous vote. And a bill in Montana that would ban DEI training in state schools got its first hearing. The legislation is similar to a bill passed in Florida late last year. 


• Policing and mental health. A program in New Jersey that pairs police officers with certified mental health screeners is expanding into 10 of the state's 21 counties, reports The New York Times. The approach aims to better address the mental health needs of people in crisis and reduce the risk of encounters ending in violence. In San Francisco, city officials announced last week that they will soon try out removing police from low-level 911 calls about homelessness and instead dispatch community workers to respond. The hope is that the new program will reduce the possibility for police violence, free up officers for more serious calls, and help get people off the streets.


• Bourbon hoarding. An internal investigation, made public this week, found that top officials at the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which regulates alcoholic beverage sales in the state, had abused their positions by diverting expensive bottles of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon and other liquor from a state warehouse so that they could buy them. The liquor was intended for the public.

Picture of the Week

This past Sunday, work on the Holland Tunnel began in an effort to repair decade-old damage from Hurricane Sandy. The tunnel will be closed to New Jersey-bound traffic for several hours six nights a week through 2025. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 1.6-mile-long tunnel, said the work would include repairing or replacing mechanical, electrical, communications and plumbing systems harmed by salt left over from the flooding.

Government In Numbers

36.3 million

The number of dead trees counted across California in 2022, a dramatic increase from previous years that experts are blaming on drought, insects and disease, according to a report by the U.S. Forest Service. The same survey for 2021 counted 9.5 million dead trees in the state.

ICYMI

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