The House is expected to pass a measure Thursday that some Republican lawmakers are grumbling was gutted of provisions supporting families with home-schooled children.
Language from the Student Empowerment Act expanding tax-advantaged savings accounts to cover K-12 education expenses was included in the version of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, or SECURE, Act unanimously approved by the Ways and Means Committee, according to GOP aides. But the text related to 529 savings accounts was taken out by the House Rules Committee, a panel heavily influenced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The staffers allege House Democrats “caved” to teachers unions and “a small handful” of their conference because the bill text would have applied to home-schooled students as well.
Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., who introduced the Student Empowerment Act with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed Democrats for sabotaging his attempt to alleviate the cost of “children’s unique education needs,” no matter how they were schooled, as well as “educational therapies for students with disabilities” and “standardized testing fees.”
“When something passes out of committee unanimously, you expect to vote on it on the floor of the House of Representatives, not have it stripped out behind closed doors. Backroom deals like this undermine the bipartisan work we do on the Ways and Means Committee and are exactly what people hate about Washington,” the House Republican Conference’s secretary told the Washington Examiner. “I can’t wrap my head around why the Democrat party, who claims to be the party of education, would object to helping families afford everyday education expenses. But the swamp does funny things to people.”
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who introduced the SECURE Act, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did spokesmen representing Pelosi’s office, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers.
GOP leadership this week sought to use the squabble as an example of Democrats stymieing collaborative efforts between lawmakers in Congress.
“I would really like to do bipartisan legislation,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters on Tuesday. “Now we watch in the SECURE Act that deals with pensions. The ability for parents to have a 529 account to save money for their children’s further education or if they have a disabled child, it came out of committee with all the Republicans and all the Democrats voting for it, but again it goes to the leadership. The unions did not like the idea that a parent could save money for the books for their children for home schooling. So politics again won out, and they put a poison pill in it.”
Despite the behind-the-scenes drama, GOP members are expected to back the measure, a Republican leadership aide told the Washington Examiner.
“It’s unfortunate Democrats decided to play politics by stripping out bipartisan 529 provisions, but we all agree we have to take care of Gold Star families as outlined in the bill that will be on the floor,” the staffer said.
