LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — New polling data suggests if the GOP legislature votes to indirectly send state tax dollars to private and religious schools, lawmakers who vote ‘Yes’ would face backlash from a vast majority of voters.
Supporters of the Betsy DeVos effort to divert state tax dollars to non-public schools filed just over 500,000 petition signatures with the state yesterday.
If the State Board of Canvassers certifies that enough valid names were filed, then the issue goes to the GOP legislature where approval is all but guaranteed.
GOP senator Lana Theis has said that this proposal is aimed at disadvantaged students who can’t afford private education.
“It allows them to get tuition help. It allows them to get mental health that was a problem for those kids,” said Theis. “What we are doing is giving them options in a way they haven’t had before.”
If this proposal got to the statewide ballot, around 64% would oppose it including 43% who would strongly oppose it.
That’s because, in part, a companion measure to this creation of a privately funded scholarship program is, that the state would grant an income tax credit to those donors and send state tax dollars to them.
“The first year a half a billion would be siphoned off from public schools,” said pollster Bernie Porn.
Porn found that 92% of citizens want their lawmakers to vote no, so that the issue could be decided by voters instead and also predicts if Republican lawmakers approve the plan voters back home could vote to boot them out of office.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. With 92% saying they want their legislator to vote no, so they’ll have a chance to vote on it,”
If the GOP legislature does hit, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cannot veto it which she did once before.
Which is why supporters took the petition route to go around the governor on this.
