Latest news with #Children'sPromiseAct
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Children's Promise Act dies in MS Senate, thanks in part to Republicans. See why
If anyone was wondering where the Mississippi Senate, as a body, stood on expanding school choice, the chamber may have tipped its hand toward any future votes on expanding public funding for private education. On Tuesday and Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers defeated House Bill 1902, which could be the last legislation standing from a volley of school-choice-related bills that previously passed the House but died in the Senate. "The only issue that I've heard from other senators, Democrats and Republicans, is that this is a program that allows people to instead of paying their taxes, to donate money to private schools with almost no oversight whatsoever," said Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, who spoke against the bill. HB 1902 was first voted on by the Senate on Tuesday before a vote to consider Senate leadership's tax reform package, which among other things, would seek to fully eliminate the state income tax. Some senators who voted against HB 1902 said that was part of the reason for voting against the measure, citing it would be in poor taste to pass one bill raising state spending and another cutting state funding. The bill was first defeated Tuesday 26-23 but held on a motion to reconsider. On Wednesday, when Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, tried to bring the bill back up, it was defeated by an even larger margin. "We were just trying to make it more available for people to allow them to donate funds to (certain tax credit programs in the bill) and that was really the effort there," Harkins said. "We will have to work on it next year." The bill, which featured the Children's Promise Act, has been tied to school choice, a loaded term for legislation seeking to expand education options for students in both the public and private sector. School choice: Mississippi House kills bill to allow students to more easily move between school districts This year, that effort has taken the shape of establishing programs to put public money directly into private schools, allowing students to more easily move between school districts, expanding charter schools and via the Children's Promise Act, a tax credit program that already puts some public dollars toward private education. All of those efforts have been killed this year. The state also already has another school-choice program, an Education Savings Account program for disabled children. There was previously an effort in both the House and Senate to expand that program, but it died by a deadline. If passed, HB 1902 would have likely gone up for further negotiation with the House, known as conference, where House negotiators would have pushed to increase funding for the Children's Promise Act tax credit program. That program allows people to donate funds to private schools and have half of it taken off of their property taxes. The program also allows people to receive tax credits for donating to foster care facilities, and the program's funding, $18 million, can only go to certain "charitable organizations" such as those listed above. School choice bills: School choice in MS House lives by in-house rule, not Democratic principle. See details Only half of that funding can go toward private schools, which have to be approved of by the Mississippi Department of Revenue based on criteria such as enrolling students with certain disabilities and having been accredited by a state-recognized firm. Once that certification is given, schools need not reapply for seven years, and the state has no method to ensure those schools are either spending "donations" on education, or if the school even enrolls those students that make the institution eligible for the program beyond the accreditor's initial findings, which includes an audit. House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, told the Clarion Ledger his goal was to increase the program's fundings because it is annually maxed out, and he thinks the program, despite political opposition to it, serves to help some of the state's most needy children. Lamar also accused Jackson-based The Parents Campaign, a nonprofit lead by Nancy Loome, of spreading lies about HB 1902 being a school-choice bill and that it would send public education dollars toward private education. "I think it has been extremely popular, and that it doesn't hurt public education at all," Lamar said. "There's no reason we can't have great public schools and great independent schools across our state, and the Children's Promise Act recognizes that." Loome told the Clarion Ledger she never tried to communicate the bill as anything but a tax-credit program that sends public dollars toward private schools with no oversight and little guardrails in place to ensure those tax dollars were being spent appropriately. "We have never said that the Children's Promise Act is a school-choice bill, because it isn't," Loome said. "It has nothing to do with anybody choosing or enrolling their child in a different school. This is simply money going to private schools. It's not tied to tuition or a child moving from one place to another, but it has the same effect financially as a voucher in that it moves public money into private schools." Several high-ranking Senate Republicans told the Clarion Ledger they either voted against the measure because constituents called asking them to vote it down, they did not support school-choice-related legislation or thought it was poor timing. Of the Senate Republicans, at least nine voted against the Children's Promise Act. Two voted "present." "I had more constituents call me and ask me not to support it," Sen. Chad McMahan, R-Tupelo, said. "We are currently providing public funds to private individuals in terms of ESA for special needs education, and there are some students in the state that have such specialized needs that some public schools are unable to secure the expertise to meet their needs." Two of them, Sens. Nicole Boyd of Oxford and Sen. Walter Michel of Ridgeland, declined to comment. Sens. Mike McLendon of Hernando and Daniel Sparks of Belmont both noted that sending public dollars toward private education is unconstitutional in Mississippi. Sparks also said he had other questions related to the running of the program and did not feel comfortable voting on it. "I think public tax dollars should be spent on public education, and (if) a person has the ability to go to a private school, then so be it," McLendon said. "I just believe that public money should go to public." Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@ or 972-571-2335. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: School choice-related bill dies in MS Senate
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
This week in politics: See what political priorities are still alive in 2025 session
As far as legislative priorities stated by both House Speaker Jason White, R-West, and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, some things are still alive in the Legislature, and some have died by the hands of the political process. As the week quickly moves, the Legislature will come even closer to its most important deadline, March 29, when final proposals for general bills and constitutional amendments will be due. By then, even more of this year's top priorities could be dead and gone. At this point, four major initiatives proposed by the lieutenant governor and House speaker are dead unless they choose and successfully get a two-thirds majority in their chamber to suspend the legislature's rules and revive those bills. Those that are totally dead as of Friday are state retirement system benefits reforms, ballot initiative restoration, suffrage restoration for some nonviolent felony holders and an education reform that would have allowed students to more easily transfer between school districts. Other priorities such as income tax cuts are very much still alive and some hang by a thread, such as school choice expansion, which has only vehicle left: An increase in state funding for the Children's Promise Act, a tax-credit program for families donating to charitable organizations, including private schools. As for other education reforms, it would seem that Senate action earlier in the session that killed several House school choice bills has soured White's position on considering any of the Senate's proposals. On Thursday, White posted to formerly Twitter, saying that a now-revived Senate effort to ban cellphone use in classrooms will not receive a warm welcome in the House. "No need to send a milquetoast, very lame Senate Education agenda back to the House, it's not even worthy of discussion…," White writes. "We showed the Senate what Mississippi's education future looks like with the House bills, and they wholeheartedly rejected them without so much as a whisper. Mississippians are beginning to take notice of the Lt. Governor and his Senate leaders doing the bidding of the status quo. Somebody will have to answer for it sooner or later." Senate kills House education bills: MS House lawmakers push school choice as Senate chairman kills proposals. Read details Senate tax plan: MS Senate tax cut plan unveiled. See how much it cuts On Wednesday, the Mississippi Senate passed a bill back to the House that would, among other things, require pharmacy benefit managers, a sort of middlemen who controls drug prices and drug health plans, to be more transparent with the pharmacies they do business with. The bill, House Bill 1123, would also allow the Mississippi Board of Pharmacy to conduct audits and prevent PBMs from conducting spread pricing, which is the act of paying insurers more for drugs than pharmacists as a way to raise profits. The bill would also prevent PBMs from incentivizing patients to pay for drugs at their affiliated pharmacies by offering cheaper prices for the same drugs sold at other pharmacies. HB 1123 now heads back to the House where lawmakers can either vote to send the bill to Reeves' desk, send it to conference for further negotiation or kill it. White told reporters at the onset of the 2025 session that it was a House priority to address PBM business practices, which the Mississippi Independent Pharmacists Association say has in the past caused independent pharmacists to close, and will likely cause more to in the future. PBMs risking closure: Independent pharmacists could risk closure by 2026 in Mississippi. Read why DEI ban in Senate: DEI ban passes MS Senate. See who will be impacted Last week, the Legislature kept alive a proposal to ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from K-12 public schools and universities and colleges. On Tuesday, the Senate passed House Bill 1193 and sent it back to the House to either approve a few changes made or send it to conference, where both House and Senate lawmakers will try to iron out one final agreement. Both House and Senate Republicans have been gunning for anti-DEI legislation but with different approaches. The legislation sent back to the House removed a university and college efficiency taskforce committee that was originally in the Senate plan, and it also did not feature several education bans that were in the original House proposal. The issue has also divided the legislature entirely along the party line between Republicans and Democrats. On the right, proponents argue DEI policies and education discriminate and put people into victims and "oppressive" boxes. Opponents of anti-DEI legislation in Mississippi within the Legislature argue those policies helped to provide equitable and equal opportunities for minority groups in Mississippi throughout and following the civil rights movement of the 20th century. For other legislative updates from last week, check out these stories below. Paid parental leave for state workers: Mississippi Legislature passes paid parental leave for state employees Intoxicating hemp ban: Hemp THC ban bill facing challenges in MS Senate. Read why Mobile sports betting update: Mobile sports betting again passed in MS House. Will Senate pass it? Portability dies in the House Mississippi House kills bill to allow students to more easily move between school districts Barbour supports tax cuts: Former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour advocates for tax cuts as Legislature mulls proposals NAACP challenges redistricting proposal: NAACP intends to challenge Legislature redistricting plan. See details Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@ or 972-571-2335. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: State politics: Some Senate, House priorities are still alive in Legislature
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mississippi House kills bill to allow students to more easily move between school districts
House leadership on Wednesday allowed a bill to die that would have given parent's the ability to more easily transfer their child from one public school district to another. The legislation, a "portability" initiative that was embedded into a Senate education bill, would have allowed students to transfer between public school districts without the approval of their district of origin, and it allowed that child's portion of state K-12 education funding to follow them to the new district. When explaining why the bill died on the House calendar by Wednesday's deadline, House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, and portability advocate Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, both said the bill would have been challenged and killed with a point of order, which seeks to challenge whether a bill's language is germane to its original intent. "Anytime you have a bill, whether it's something that changes a minor thing or a major thing in education, you're going to have people for and against," Roberson said. "Unfortunately, portability is dead. We will come back next year, and we'll be talking about it again." Owen told reporters on the House floor that pressures both inside and outside of the legislature caused the bill's death. He later said he intends to pursue the legislation again next year. School choice update: MS House lawmakers push school choice as Senate chairman kills proposals. Read details "This had nothing to do with public dollars going anywhere but back to other public schools," Owen said. "The whole idea that this is to be lumped in with the (Children's Promise Act, a school choice bill) or anything else is (ridiculous). This was the most basic way to give parents the most basic amount of choice. The only thing we were doing here was telling a school district they can't tell me no when I want to send my kid to another public school district." Earlier this session, the piece of legislation in question, Senate Bill 2618, had been amended in the House Education Committee to include the House portability bill after the Senate had killed several House education priorities for the year. The issue was that the Senate bill only dealt with school attendance officers, and a portability piece was not germane. The bill was the last of a slew of attempts by House leadership to give parents more options for their child's education. More school choice news: Why universal school choice is unlikely to pass in 2025 MS Legislature? Read here The topic is often referred to as school choice, which typically has to do with using government funds to give parents more options with K-12 education, including both public-to-public school district transfers, expansion of charter schools and sending public dollars toward private education. House Speaker Jason White, R-West, who made education reforms such as school choice one of his top priorities for the year, laid the blame on a lack of support inside the legislature, lobbying against the idea and a lack of an opportunity for the Senate chamber to fully consider portability. "I think more and more of my colleagues here in the House and even in the Senate, if they're given an opportunity to express where they are in the form of voting for it or against it, I think you're going to see those (anti portability) attitudes change," White said. "(This issue) doesn't necessarily fall purely along party lines or racial lines. I think you're starting to see real, meaningful adult conversations among lawmakers about, 'Hey, what is best for kids and parents'…You're hearing those conversations." When the House portability bill originally passed the House chamber, it passed mostly along party lines, with less than a handful of Democrats voting in favor and a few Republicans voting against the measure. Throughout the session, Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, has killed both Senate and House proposals to give parents more school choice by way of both portability and other pieces of legislation that would allow public dollars going toward private schools. Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@ or 972-571-2335. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS House kills school district portability bill
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bobby Harrison: ‘School choice' supporters in MS want public money without accountability
It is becoming crystal clear that proponents of school choice — sending public funds to private schools — want the money but do not want the accountability. Two of those leading proponents — House Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar and state Auditor Shad White — have made it clear in recent days through their words or actions that they eschew accountability for private schools receiving public funds. The latest example of avoidance of accountability for private schools receiving public funds is legislation authored by Lamar, a Republican from Senatobia, that has passed the House and is pending in the Senate Finance Committee. The legislation over time could more than double the public dollar amount that private schools could receive from a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit on the amount donated to the schools. Lamar, whose hometown private school Magnolia Heights received $386,500 through the program last year, tried unsuccessfully in 2024 to pass similar legislation. The legislation died in the Senate after the agency that oversees the program revealed it did not know the number of children served by the private schools through the multi-million dollar program. Last year the Department of Revenue in response to questions said, 'This information (number of eligible students enrolled) is provided to DOR at the time of application … but is not updated annually. DOR does not maintain this information other than with the original request.' In the original application, 'DOR reviews the information provided and issues a letter ruling advising whether they qualify or not. The original request is covered under confidentiality statutes.' In 2019, legislation called the Children's Promise Act was passed to provide a tax credit for institutions providing services to foster children. But sneaked into the legislation and barely mentioned at the time was language to provide tax credits for private schools that enrolled low-income students and students with a chronic illness, or a physical, intellectual, developmental or emotional disability. Nancy Loome, executive director of the pro-public education group The Parents' Campaign, pointed out that theoretically the school could enroll one student with a food allergy or with an attention deficit disorder and be eligible to receive up to $405,000 annually under current law in tax credit funds. The legislation does not place any guidelines on the number of students who must be enrolled to be eligible for the tax credit benefits. Supporters argued that the tax credits are not public funds. That is a disingenuous argument. Under the law, a person can receive a dollar-for-dollar credit for up to 50% of his or her property tax liability, and a business can receive the same 50% reduction in the amount of income tax owed by making a donation equaling 50% of the tax liability. No matter how you strike it, that's money coming out of the state coffers. Currently $9 million annually in tax credits can be doled out to the entities and individuals making donations to private schools. Lamar's legislation could more than double the amount over time. In 2024, when asked the number of students who made the schools eligible for the tax credits were being taught, Lamar admitted he did not know but would find out. One year later, it appears that information still is not available. White, the state auditor, on numerous occasions has been critical of public school funding even though under state and federal law, public schools face what some argue are burdensome accountability standards. While White demands accountability of public schools, he said recently during a Mississippi State Stennis Institute of Government/Capitol Press Corps luncheon that no government oversight of private schools receiving public funds is needed. 'They are held accountable by the parents who choose to send their kids there,' White said. White went on to bolster his argument claiming that the government does not provide oversight of the private colleges and universities that enroll students who are aided with their tuition costs by federal PELL grant funds. When pointed out to White that the federal government does monitor or provide oversight of those schools to ensure that the federal funds are being properly spent, he replied, 'Great. Again the standards are going to be different for a lot of these programs.' He then said Dollar General is not being monitored for the federal food stamps it receives. In reality, though, both the stores that take food stamps and the people who receive the food stamps are monitored. Both can face consequences for the improper use of those food stamps. So, in White's analogy, Dollar General would be subject to more governmental oversight than private schools receiving public funds would — if Lamar and White get their way, of course. This column was produced by Mississippi Today, a nonprofit news organization that covers state government, public policy, politics and culture. Bobby Harrison is the editor of Mississippi Today Ideas.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This week in politics: School choice bills return for second round in MS House
The Mississippi House of Representatives has for the second-year advanced bills that would increase the amount of taxpayer cash available for families to spend on private schools. On Wednesday, the House passed House Bill 1902, 1903 and 1894, containing code sections of state law relating to the Children's Promise Act, a multi-million-dollar tax credit program allowing parents to collectively receive $9 million in tax breaks for sending their children to private schools. The Children's Promise Act, first passed in 2019, has been used as a tax credit program for families to get back money they pay to "charitable organizations." House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, told the Clarion Ledger the program's current funding limit is inadequate. "It's a priority of mine," he said. "The need and demand for this outpaces the allowance of credits, and other tax credit programs are not being fully utilized." HB 1902 would take unused tax credits away from other programs and place them with the Children's Promise Act. HB 1903 would increase the amount of money the program receives in total each year from $9 million to $16 million for families to receive tax breaks. The other piece of the puzzle is HB 1894, which at first glance looks only to be a state bond issuance bill. Within it lies the Children's Promise Act. When Lamar introduced the legislation to his committee, he made no mention of the portion that included tax dollar spending on private schools. The bill passed committee without any opposition. "It is a little bit frustrating… It would be helpful to the whole House if (Lamar) would give us more time and a little bit more headway in terms of being able to understand what's in the bills," Minority Leader Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, said. For years, similar tactics have been used to get legislation through the Capitol. Lamar's most recent was Smith Wills Stadium, which transferred from Jackson's ownership to the state via a land conveyance bill passed in 2024. Jackson delegates later said Lamar made no direct mention of the bill's intent when presenting it. Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, has been on the record for years as opposing legislation that increases public funding for private schools. First 2025 School choice effort dies: MS House Speaker says school choice bill doesn't have consensus among House GOP. See why On Thursday, independent pharmacists gathered at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass meaningful reform on Pharmacy Benefit Managers, the pharmaceutical middlemen who often control both drug prices on consumers and the amount of money pharmacists can make on prescriptions. "Independent pharmacies are often reimbursed less than the acquisition cost of medications," a press release on the press conference stated. "Furthermore, an independent audit found that chain drug stores and other PBM affiliates are paid eight times more than your hometown, independent pharmacy. PBM's steer patients to mail order or big box stores, killing small, independently owned pharmacies. This practice hurts communities and limits access to care." School choice moved up via in-house rule School choice in MS House lives by in-house rule, not Democratic principle. See details PBM issues: Independent pharmacists could risk closure by 2026 in Mississippi. Read why Both the House and Senate have passed legislation to increase transparency and accountability for the business that PBMs do in Mississippi. In 2024, the Clarion Ledger identified that independent pharmacists on whole faced closures within the next few years if nothing was done to address what they described as unfair PBM business practices. House Speaker Jason White said in a press release this week he is committed to ensuring some transparency and accountability is put on PBMs. On Tuesday, Lamar told the Clarion Ledger that if push comes to shove, he would be happy if the governor calls a special session to fully eliminate the state income tax. Both the House and Senate have passed bills to dramatically cut taxes in some areas and raise them in others. One major difference between the chambers' approach is that the House plan seeks to fully eliminate the income tax while the Senate seeks to only reduce it to 2.99%. Tax cuts: Senate passes tax cut plan. See what it does For several weeks, rumors have been circulating that Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is mulling whether to call a special session to force the Senate to negotiate an income tax elimination. Reeves has gone on the record for being largely in support of the House plan. Lamar said he and his colleagues are dead set on full elimination, and if the Senate doesn't like it, he's happy with suspending all other legislative business until some sort of agreement is made. "I fully support the governor calling special session to highlight the need to eliminate our income tax for the future of Mississippi," Lamar said. Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@ or 972-571-2335 This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS politics: School choice bills advanced by State House again
