Republicans in the Georgia state House withdrew a bill that would have expanded school choice in the state because they were upset at tactics employed by a pro-school choice organization to pressure lawmakers into voting for the bill.
House Speaker David Ralston said a bill that would have established a $6,000-per-student voucher program was no longer under consideration for the current legislative session because Republican lawmakers in the state were angered by a mail flyer pressure campaign mounted by the American Federation for Children, a pro-school choice organization.
Ralston, in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said he was “livid” and that the campaign by the federation was “the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my career and one of the most deceitful.”
UTAH REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SAYS HE WILL VETO SCHOOL CHOICE BILL
“These are people we have tried to help over the years, and they turned to attack us very viciously,” Ralston said of the organization.
Ralston and other Republican lawmakers in Georgia had taken issue with a series of flyers that the American Federation for Children had mailed to the constituents of a number of Republican legislators. The flyers had encouraged constituents to contact their representatives to pressure them to “stand up” to “the radical left” by supporting the voucher legislation.
The organization had held a Tuesday rally outside the Georgia State Capitol in support of the legislation.
Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen told the Washington Examiner that the bill was pulled “after the American Federation for Children sent mailers attacking more than a dozen members of the Majority Caucus — including members of leadership” and promised the federation would quadruple their mailer campaign budget if the bill passed, which McMichen said amounted to a “quid pro quo.”
McMichen said that none of the bill’s sponsors “were involved with or had any knowledge of AFC’s plans” and that it was “unfortunate that AFC’s reckless behavior ended consideration of this measure and turned members who were supporting or might have supported the bill against the measure.”
McMichen accused the federation of “employing traditionally-liberal lobbying tactics to aggressively and irresponsibly advocate for a bill,” which ultimately led to the bill’s demise.
“How advocacy is conducted matters — particularly when it comes to an organization offering to ‘quadruple the mail budget’ in return for a favorable vote,” McMichen said. “Attempted intimidation or coercion of House members by any outside organization is and will remain a counterproductive tactic in Georgia.”
Corey DeAngelis, the director of research for the American Federation for Children, slammed Ralston’s decision to withdraw the bill in a tweet, saying that blaming the federation for the bill’s failure was “a weak excuse to side with the [education] monopoly.”
Georgia House Speaker @SpeakerRalston (R) killed a bill to fund students instead of systems.
“Republicans” in the Georgia House got their feelings hurt because their constituents received mailers urging them to support school choice
Such a weak excuse to side with the monopoly.
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) February 23, 2022
DeAngelis noted that school choice is part of the Republican Party’s platform and questioned why Ralston chose to “kill a party platform issue,” saying that it would, by extension, “punish families.”
School choice is on the Republican Party platform.
“Republicans” who wanted to side with the government school monopoly are upset about the pressure.
Why would @SpeakerRalston (R) punish families and kill a party platform issue??
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) February 23, 2022
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, DeAngelis said Ralston should put the bill up for a vote “so parents can know where their representatives stand” and that by pulling the bill, the speaker was “protecting fake Republicans” who “don’t want to come out against this in an election year.”
Blaming the federation’s mail campaign was merely a convenient excuse, DeAngelis added.
“If you are really for school choice, you are not going to kill a bill over a bunch of mailers,” he said.
The federation’s state-level push was spearheaded by Christy Riggins, who had made the promise to quadruple the organization’s mail budget in the state if the bill passed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
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“Given the disruption of the past three school years, parents can’t wait another year for solutions,” Riggins said in a statement cited by the Atlanta-based outlet. “They know how powerful Promise Scholarships could be for their children. We hope their representatives will listen.”
