Florida House, Senate move forward on school voucher expansion
TALLAHASSEE - Proposals that would make all Florida students eligible for taxpayer-funded school vouchers continued advancing Wednesday in the House and Senate, but Gov. Ron DeSantis this week questioned scrapping current income-eligibility requirements.
The Republican-controlled House Education & Employment Committee voted 16-4, nearly along party lines, to approve the House voucher proposal (HB 1). The Senate Education Appropriations Committee approved a similar measure (SB 202) in a 9-4 party-line vote.
The wide-ranging bills would represent a massive expansion of eligibility for vouchers, allowing anyone who is "a resident of this state and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school" to receive the aid, regardless of income status.
But DeSantis, speaking with reporters Tuesday on the opening day of the legislative session, said he doesn't favor completely nixing income-based eligibility requirements that have long been used in state voucher programs.
"It doesn't mean if they (legislators) do something different that I would not support it. But I just view universal school choice as being, if you have a family that's very high income, they have school choice. They don't necessarily need to be eligible for the program ... they can go, pay tuition and do it," DeSantis said.
The governor also acknowledged a limited amount of enrollment space in private schools.
"As a matter of first principle, I support universal (choice), being able to do it, but I also know we're in a situation now in Florida, we have a limited number of seats that we could even accommodate in private schools," DeSantis added.
The House and Senate bills also look to create what are commonly known as education savings accounts, or ESAs. In addition to providing money for private-school tuition, the bills would allow recipients, including families of home-schooled students, to use vouchers on a range of purchases. Those purchases could include things such as instructional materials and fees for various exams.
The House committee made a change Wednesday to include what essentially is a tiered structure for students to receive vouchers based on income.
The bill would require that vouchers be prioritized, with students whose household incomes are less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level, or roughly $51,000 for a family of four, getting first priority. Next in line would be students whose family incomes are from 185 percent of the poverty level to 400 percent of the poverty level, or about $111,000 for a family of four.
While a disagreement has simmered about how much the House proposal could cost, House sponsor Kaylee Tuck, R- Lake Placid, stood by a nearly $210 million estimate released by House analysts last month.
Meanwhile, the Florida Policy Institute, a non-profit group that opposes the voucher plan, has issued a ballpark estimate that the measure could cost the state about $4 billion.
"We believe that our estimate is more accurate," Tuck said Wednesday.
A cost estimate has not been attached to the Senate proposal. Senate sponsor Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, said Wednesday that the Legislature's Office of Economic & Demographic Research, or EDR, has not produced a cost projection.
"We're still waiting on the numbers from EDR. There is some discrepancy between where EDR is with the Senate bill and the House bill, so we're still waiting to pull all of those questions together and make sure that we're giving an accurate count of the total cost of this bill going forward," Simon said.
The lack of an estimated price tag drew questions and opposition from Democrats.
"Do you think it's appropriate to ask us to make a decision without having that kind of information?" Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, asked Simon.
"I think at the end of the day, you're either for the bill or not for the bill," Simon said in response..
The House measure needs approval Friday from the Education Quality Subcommittee before it can go to the full House. Education & Employment Chairman Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, said Friday's meeting is needed to revise the bill for a procedural reason.