A lower-than-expected revenue surplus could delay extra funding for a private school voucher program. State House leaders are looking for other sources of money before taking action on the issue.
Late last week, state budget officials announced that personal income tax collections in April weren't as high as they'd predicted. That lowered a projected $1.4 billion budget surplus to just under $1 billion.
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters that change will impact how his chamber handles a Senate proposal to add nearly $250 million for private school vouchers in the coming school year.
"Because once we got those initial numbers, we went ahead and started baking in some of the proposed funding, so when you pulled that $400 million, it certainly made an impact," he said.
Republicans say that money is needed to ensure that all families who applied for vouchers can get them. Current funding ran out before higher-income families were accepted; lawmakers changed the eligibility last year to make the Opportunity Scholarship program available to all families regardless of how much they earn.
Moore said the House supports the funding but is holding off on a vote until money can be found outside the surplus. The Senate wanted to get the bill passed into law quickly to help families make plans for the coming school year.
"Really the question now is not the funding and nor really the amount of funding, it's going to be the source of funds," he said. "The Senate's version that they've sent over simply takes those funds from the bottom line. We believe there may be some other sources where that funding can be taken that wouldn't affect later appropriations in the budget process."
Moore wouldn't say where the funding might come from, but he said it won't be from revenue tied to the possible legislation of video gambling machines.
As for that proposal, the speaker said he's still not sure if it has enough support to move forward this year. But he noted that a lot of lobbying is taking place on the issue.
"You can't swing a dead cat in this place and not hit a lobbyist that hadn't been hired on gaming," he said.
