NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two Republican lawmakers who voted against Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher measure are making their voices heard after they say they were silenced during the debate on the House floor.
Gov. Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which passed by narrow margins in both the House and Senate Thursday, will use tax dollars to pay to send children to private school or other options if their parents choose.
In a Facebook post, Republican Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill), who voted against the school voucher bill, called the measure a “scam” that is “not conservative, fiscally responsible, or in the best interest of Tennessee families.” He also alleged some lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill were motivated by money from multi-million dollar special interest groups and lobbyists.
“Tennesseans should just be outraged by the process that took place this last week,” Rep. Warner said. “This is a swamp at work and we saw it firsthand this week.”
Rep. Warner has opposed the school voucher proposal since the beginning and believes it never should have been taken up in a special session. He also accused the Republican leadership of using Hurricane Helene relief funds, another part of the special session, to get the voucher bill passed, something the Republican leadership has adamantly denied.
However, everything came to a head Thursday on the House floor when lawmakers were debating the voucher bill. Rep. Warner told News 2 he was told he couldn’t participate.
“I get it. They don’t like me, and that’s okay, but they silenced millions of Tennesseans’ voices yesterday by not letting certain representatives speak,” Rep. Warner said. “I wasn’t the only one. There were four others that were told they couldn’t speak either because they knew we were against the vouchers and we were going to tell the truth.”
Republican Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) has also openly opposed Gov. Lee’s voucher plan based on feedback from his constituents and the fiscal analysis, which he said isn’t fiscally conservative.
Rep. Barrett told News 2 just two of the 20-something Republicans who voted against the bill were given a total of four minutes to debate it on the House floor, and he wasn’t one of them.
“The rules that were put in place were really not designed to provide for any type of banter back and forth,” Rep. Barrett said. “Essentially what we got was an infomercial where one side got 45 minutes to give their spiel about what they did not like about the bill, and the other side got 45 minutes to give their sales pitch as to why it was a good idea. Dividing 45 minutes among 24 [Democrats] is a lot easier than dividing it among 75 [Republicans].”
Rep. Barrett believes lawmakers should’ve discussed the issue during the regular session where they had more time.
“I know the governor disagrees, but this is not something in my opinion that was an emergency. That needed to be done in three days,” Rep. Barrett said. “That’s just no way for the people of the state to really have the opportunity to read the bill, to understand it, to chime in, to talk to their representatives, and it certainly didn’t give us enough time to go back and talk to our constituents as the bill was evolving and amendments were being filed.”
Despite Rep. Warner and Rep. Barrett’s statements, Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) told reporters Thursday the debate rules, which he helped create that provided 45 minutes to the Democrats and 45 minutes to the Republicans, were effective and gave everyone who wanted, the chance to speak.
“I think everybody who wanted to say something got the opportunity to say something, and then we move on,” Speaker Sexton said. “People had plenty of time to see the amendments, people had plenty of time to see the bill. Anybody who complains about it, they’re going to complain in regular session.”
In addition, Gov. Lee said passing the legislation in a special session is valuable because it enables the state to roll out the Education Freedom Scholarships sooner.
“I have said all along that we should and could have the best public schools in America and provide parents with choice, and we’ve done that,” Gov. Lee said. “It is, in fact, a momentous day for students and teachers and parents across Tennessee.”
