Bradley Schrock -Staters Union
As both parties work to cooperate in the house and senate to pass clean energy, criminal justice reform, and cannabis legalization bills, debate over an education proposal has heated up in the Senate’s chambers. Spilling out into the hallway because of a meeting with the House, the assembled senators contended mainly with how to provide vouchers to private schools. The Nationalists and Federalists both seemed to be in general agreement at first but concerns raised by Senator Noah Gould sparked the beginnings of dissent among their ranks. His opponents railed against the provision in the Senate’s draft bill to give government vouchers to attendees of non-secular, religious private schools. The bill’s author, Senator Patrick Olsen, defends the equal availability of funding for private schools as a constitutional requirement. his fellow Senator, Chris Ramsey contends that this isn’t true and together with Gould is trying to rally opposition in the senate against the bill. Both sides foresee a possible legal battle if the other tries to pass their version of the bill.