In a prebuttal to Gov. Bill Lee’s State of the State address on Monday, Tennessee Democrats excoriated the governor’s proposed voucher expansion plan as a scam designed to defund public schools to subsidize private school tuition for wealthy families.
Senate Democratic Caucus Chair London Lamar, D-Memphis, cited a favorite line of Lee’s — Tennessee is leading the nation — but said Republican policies in Tennessee are leaving so many families behind and instead leading the nation in violent crime, personal bankruptcies and maternal deaths.
They’ve wasted years of our time and tax dollars in pursuit of a trickle-down agenda that serves billionaires and big corporations while literally undermining our personal prosperity, our safety and our freedom, but it doesn’t have to be this way, Lamar said. It’s time to end this race to the bottom and start focusing on an agenda that actually prioritizes freedom for working families.
Democrats called for permanent end to Tennessee’s grocery tax, expansion of paid family leave and reduction in prescription drug costs.
Lamar also criticized Republican reticence to enact gun access reform.
Unlike Tennessee Republicans who have made it too easy for criminals to get guns, we know that it takes common sense, accountability and crime prevention to make our communities safer, Lamar said. That means we need to get dangerous people and illegal guns off the streets, but we also need to invest in evidence-based solutions that address the root causes of crime.
On Monday, Lee is expected to focus at least in part on his vision for a new statewide school choice program. The plan would provide about $7,000 to up to 20,000 students in its first year to attend private school or pay for other education expenses. But his office has not shared many specific details before a draft of the legislation was accidentally filed, then quickly deleted, earlier this week from the legislature’s bill website.
Lee’s proposal would give taxpayer funds to individuals to use at private and religious schools. The initial proposal will not include any testing or accountability requirements for participating students, according to the advance draft of the legislation obtained by The Tennessean.
Lee has long advocated for offering families more school options, and says the program is aimed at empowering parents to find the best school to fit their child’s educational needs. Critics of the proposal, commonly referred to as school vouchers, are saying that it could dismantle public education in Tennessee and defund public schools.
