In a second straight setback to Iowa families, Iowa House Republicans have killed a proposal to allow moms and dads to use a portion of the funding used to educate their children in public school to instead be used at an educational environment better suited for the family’s needs.
The Speaker of the Iowa House, Pat Grassley, confirmed what The Iowa Standard reported last week — Iowa House Republicans are killing the Education Savings Accounts proposal offered by Gov. Kim Reynolds and passed by the Iowa Senate.
It’s the second straight year an ESA proposal was killed by Iowa House Republicans.
“When it comes to the school choice bill that the governor proposed, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to put the voters together in the House this year to pass that,” Grassley reportedly said on Monday.
The proposed ESAs are quite limited in scope, especially considering what the Republican Party of Iowa platform calls for in terms of education and school choice. Despite the GOP holding a 60-40 advantage in the Iowa House, expanding educational freedom isn’t happening and it isn’t happening due to Republican opposition.
Grassley claimed it is “obvious” the Iowa House wants to continue to work with Reynolds to get something achieved — but considering they killed the proposal last year and offered nothing on the ESA front this year, it’s hard to believe.
As The Iowa Standard predicted, Democrats are hailing the bill’s defeat as a win.
“We’re glad that it died because it’s not good for Iowa kids,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, according to The Des Moines Register. “Only 2% of Iowa kids would have benefitted from this scheme and we need to focus on the 498,000 kids who go to public schools in the state of Iowa. So it’s great news. It’s a victory.”
Time for a back door flush of the Republican Party.
If they never have to vote and everything happens in some “smoke filled room” voters will never know who is with us or against us on any issue. They can say they are for or against but if they never put their hand to the scalpel and draw blood to deal with the cancer, they are useless as a butter knife in the operating room.
Pat the Rat strikes again…