Governor to sign school voucher bill after Iowa Senate passes in early Tuesday vote

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – After three hours of debate, the Iowa Senate handed a invoice to make use of taxpayer cash to fund non-public college scholarships.

“The College students First Act” handed in a vote of 31 to 18 round 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. On Monday, it handed the Iowa Home 54 to 45.

The invoice would create taxpayer funded schooling financial savings accounts for college students who attend a non-public, accredited college.

Mother and father might use the cash for issues like tuition, textbooks and tutoring.

Governor Kim Reynolds launched an announcement shortly after the vote, saying she plans to signal the invoice into regulation in a while Tuesday.

“I’m thrilled that each the Iowa Home and the Iowa Senate have handed the College students First Act,” mentioned Reynolds. “For the primary time, we’ll fund college students as an alternative of a system, a decisive step in making certain that each little one in Iowa can obtain one of the best schooling potential. Mother and father, not the federal government, can now select the schooling setting finest suited to their little one no matter their revenue or zip code.”

The newest invoice is now anticipated to go to her desk for her signature.

“This invoice is a grave mistake for Iowa – essentially, financially, and morally,” mentioned Iowa state Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames. “The one option to pay for this program is to proceed to bleed our public faculties.”

“Non-public college vouchers will harm native faculties, weaken rural communities, and scale back alternative for the overwhelming majority of Iowa youngsters,” mentioned Iowa State Senator Molly Donahue of Cedar Rapids.

Iowa Senate Democrats additionally launched an announcement following the early morning vote, with some calling it a “grave mistake for Iowa.”

This may mark the most important change in Iowa’s schooling system in many years.

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