Have you ever watched the bubble gum blowing contests where the giant bubble pops and covers the blower’s face and head? In contrast, smaller bubbles just blow up in front of them with less of a mess.
The School Choice bill SB503 resembles just such a comparison as one reads the fiscal note for it. Senator Lundberg’s accepted amendment served well to lower the initial cost by involving the cost shifting of TISA funds between public schools and from public school funding to the scholarship fund. The first-year gum bubble price tag looks more manageable than the House HB 1183 version which tries to blow the double bubble of school choice and adding over 200 million to public school efforts.
If this SB503 stopped at such a smaller bubble only costing less than 100 million dollars, the bubble’s impact would be slightly easier to swallow, but following years promise a much bigger bubble. While the House’s HB1183 sister bill version offers an explicit growth rate of no more than 20% per year pending appropriations, the SB503 version could grow to over 500 million in 2 years. A calculation of the house bill’s growth rate would take 9-10 years to reach this size even though it starts at 400 million. A 500-million-dollar gum bubble in 2 years could truly explode in the face of taxpayers.
While one can appreciate the Governor’s stated intentions of providing all the children of Tennessee parents (emphasized, NOT Tennessee’s children, as the children belong first to the parents rather than the state) with the best education, the price tag for this program is a bubble blowing contest winner and loser. The price tag bubble will make it look like we are pouring money into education, but its rapid expansion threatens to burst in our state budget’s face.
Take a few minutes today to contact legislators on the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee today before they meet to discuss this bill on Tuesday April 2nd. Put a few of the following bullet points into your own words so they know we are all expecting them to protect our state from a budgetary explosion hidden in plain sight in SB503.
- While education is important, the state budget is not limitless.
- Passing SB503 which has the potential to balloon to over 500 million in 2 years, as admitted by your own fiscal note, is irresponsible.
- We need a better plan than SB503 to rescue children from failing schools.
- Say no to SB503 before it blows up all over our state budget.
Thank you for taking time to contact the Senators below. You can email (good), call (better), or make an in-person appointment (best). If you can come for the Committee hearing on April 2nd at 830am at the Capitol, you can bring a small sign that says “NO to SB503”.
Blessings,
Eric Potter MD
Contact List for Members of Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee
Recent Comments