(Radio Iowa)--Most Republicans in the Iowa legislature have voted for Governor Kim Reynolds' top 2023 priority -- a bill that will provide state-funded accounts for the parents of private school students. Reynolds planned to sign it into law late this morning. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake opened yesterday's (Monday's) House debate by saying the bill is about freedom.
Representative Skyler Wheeler, a Republican from Hull who backed the bill, says public school parents got frustrated during the pandemic and asked for this alternative.
Wills says if Iowans didn't want school choice, they wouldn't have expanded the Republican majorities in the legislature -- and would not have reelected Governor Reynolds by a 19-point margin.
The measure passed the House by a vote of 55 to 45 and the Senate by a vote of 31 to 18. All Democrats and a total of 12 Republicans voted against the measure.
