ALAN CHOATE - Daily Herald | Posted: Thursday, March 8, 2007 11:00 pm
A referendum challenging the state's recently enacted school voucher program may not actually put the program up to a public vote.
Because of the way the program was approved, opponents might not be able to use the referendum process to go after vouchers, which would provide publicly funded grants for parents to send their kids to private schools. A referendum would allow voters to either approve the law or take it off the books. Elections on referendums can either be done in a special election or in the next regular general election.
Members of the coalition opposed to vouchers did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday night.
"This is still dynamic," said Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo and one of the voucher program's most ardent supporters. "People are still trying to get their arms around it."
The Utah Legislature actually passed two voucher bills during the session that ended Feb. 28.
The first one, HB 148, scraped passage in the House of Representatives on a 38-37 vote and passed the Senate 19-10.
Lawmakers then amended the program with HB 174, which superseded HB 148 -- that is, it became the voucher bill, Bramble said. It passed 54-11 in the House and 23-5 in the Senate.
State law says that a bill approved by at least a two-thirds vote in both legislative chambers cannot be challenged by referendum.
"The second bill passed with a veto-proof majority," Bramble said. "It's my understanding that that puts it beyond the reach of a referendum.
"They filed a petition against the first bill."
All that's left in the original bill is a five-year "hold harmless" funding agreement that maintains appropriations to school districts when students accept vouchers. This year's $9.3 million appropriation is already funded, Bramble said, but a repeal by referendum would remove the requirement that legislators allocate that money.
When in place, the voucher program would provide parents with grants of $500 to $3,000 -- based on financial need -- to help pay for private school tuition. The Legislature allocated $9.2 million for the program's first year.
Nancy Pomeroy, communications director for the pro-voucher Parents for Choice in Education, said the referendum wrinkle should make the debate even more interesting.
"The whole thing has been the gift that keeps on giving," she said. "I have a feeling we'll still be fighting about this thing when I'm 302."
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.