Senate floor fights over expansion of Education Freedom Accounts, multiple repeal amendments defeated
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Summary
Senators debated and repeatedly rejected amendments to limit or roll back an expansion of education freedom accounts (EFAs) during floor consideration of the budget and related amendments; supporters say EFAs expand choice, opponents cite academic evidence and budget cost.
Concord — The Senate floor spent much of the day debating changes to education freedom accounts, with multiple floor amendments that would reduce or repeal the program rejected after roll‑call votes.
Proponents of the universal EFA expansion argued the program provides choice and, they said, helps “middle class families” and low‑income children who benefit from alternatives to their assigned public schools. Senator Sullivan described families who had their children “literally been saved by education freedom accounts” and criticized repeated attempts to reduce the program.
Opponents pressed a different view. Senator Altschuler and others cited research from Ohio, Louisiana and Indiana at different points in floor debate, saying students using vouchers in those states “did worse” academically in some published studies and arguing that universal expansion would shift public revenue toward private tuition. Senator Rosenwald and others highlighted the budget cost: the expansion would increase state spending by roughly $30,000,000 over the biennium, and senators asked whether the state could afford that while funding housing and other priorities.
On the floor
- Multiple amendments seeking to roll back or narrow universal EFA eligibility were proposed and voted down; Senate roll calls recorded several failures (many amendments failed by margins such as 8–16 and 9–15 on recorded votes during budget debate).
- Senators asked whether the Department of Education had identified net savings to school districts from the program; one exchange noted the state currently pays about $0 per pupil for private students but would pay roughly $5,200 per pupil if a voucher were used, shifting costs onto the state.
Why it matters: Expanding EFAs shifts tax dollars from public districts to private accounts and has implications for school finance, local property taxes and equity. The floor debate showed the issue remains highly polarizing and tied to budget tradeoffs.
Ending
The Senate rejected several repeal or limit amendments and left the universal EFA provisions attached to the budget and related bills as the Senate advanced them to third reading. Because the budget process involves further reconciliation with the House, EFAs and the dollars attached remain a likely focus of final negotiations.
