The Governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act, bills HB 1183 and SB 0503, are rapidly moving through the Tennessee House and Senate.
The first week of March, several local home-school families were denied the right to testify in opposition to the House bill, while paid school-choice lobbyists from Americans for Prosperity and American Federation for Children filled the itinerary. The Senate did not allow any testimony from either side.
Governor Lee’s voucher bill will be heard in House Government Operations, which is a joint committee, on Monday, March 18, at 10 a.m. in House Hearing Room 1 in the Cordell Hull Building (425 Rep. John Lewis Way N., Nashville). It will be heard in the Senate Finance, Ways and Means committee on Tuesday, March 19, at 8:30 a.m. Show up!
Call to Action: Contact legislators in both committees and tell them to vote NO on HB 1183 and Senate Bill 0503.
Key reasons to vote no:
* It does not remove Category IV schools (church-related/home schools)
* It expands big government
* It comes with strings attached including testing requirements, federal dollars and data mining of students that participate.
House Government Operations (Bill 1183):
Representative John Ragan: rep.john.ragan@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Jay Reedy: rep.jay.reedy@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Gino Bulso: rep.gino.bulso@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Karen Camper: rep.karen.camper@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Dale Carr: rep.dale.Carr@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Jesse Chism: rep.jesse.chism@capitol.tn.gov
Representative John Ray Clemmons: rep.john.ray.clemmons@capitol.tn.gov
Representative John Crawford: rep.john.crawford@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Rick Eldrige: rep.rick.eldridge@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Jeremy Faison: rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Yusuf Hakeem: rep.yusuf.hakeem@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Caleb Hemmer: rep.caleb.hemmer@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Justin Jones: rep.justin.jones@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Kelly Keisling: rep.kelly.keisling@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Sabi “Doc” Kumar: rep.sabi.kumar@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Justin Lafferty: rep.justin.lafferty@capitol.tn.gov
Representative William Lamberth: rep.william.lamberth@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Mary Littleton: rep.mary.littleton@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Pat Marsh: rep.pat.marsh@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Greg Martin: rep.greg.martin@capitol.tn.gov
Representative Jake McCalmon: rep.jake.mccalmon@capitol.tn.gov
Senate Finance, Ways and Means (SB 0503):
Senator Bo Watson: sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov
Senator John Stevens: sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Joey Hensley: sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Ferrell Haile: sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Jack Johnson: sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov
Senator London Lamar: sen.london.lamar@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Bill Powers: sen.bill.powers@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Page Walley: sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Dawn White: sen.dawn.white@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Ken Yager: sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov
Senator Jeff Yarbro: sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov
Additional legislators who need to be contacted:
Senate Kerry Roberts
sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-4499
Senator Ed Jackson
sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-1810
Senator Janice Bowling
sen.janice.bowling@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-6694
Senator Rusty Crowe
sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-2468
Senator Sara Kyle
sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-4167
Senator Adam Lowe
sen.adam.lowe@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-1946
Senator Charlene Oliver
sen.charlane.oliver@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-2453
Senator Paul Rose
sen.paul.rose@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-1967
Senator Brent Taylor
sen.brent.taylor@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-3036
