Two Decades in the Making, School Voucher Bill Clears Big HurdleSenate committee vote not just about voucher merits, but also recipients
- State Sens. Thomas Kean Jr., left, and Raymond Lesniak, the prime sponsors of the proposed Opportunity Scholarship Act, testify yesterday before Senate budget committee.
A key Senate committee yesterday voted for New Jersey’s first experiment with private school vouchers. That's not a final verdict but it's no small vote -- and a bitterly fought one -- for an effort literally two decades old.
The five-hour budget committee hearing ended with a suspense-filled vote after dark.
With a mix of Republican and Democratic support, the committee voted out the Opportunity Scholarship Act by an 8-5 tally. That cleared the way for its next vote before the full Senate and brought applause and hugs from much of the overflow crowd in the Statehouse.
But with much jockeying still ahead, including before the Assembly, behind the scenes has been a delicate balancing act of deciding exactly who would qualify for the vouchers and how much would they get.
The latest version of the bill would make New Jersey’s