Senate Democratic Leaders comment on Tax Commission efforts to claw back private school voucher payments

OKLAHOMA CITY – Leaders of the Senate Democratic Caucus issued the following statements after the Oklahoma Tax Commission said it was attempting to claw back about $5 million in private school vouchers provided to individuals whose children did not attend those schools for the entire period the payments were supposed to cover.

“Senate Democrats opposed this giveaway of public money from the first time it was proposed – it was clear the bill did not have enough guardrails or transparency to avoid this kind of waste. Public money should be supporting students in public schools.” – Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City.

“Just this past week, the Senate Education Committee voted for a bill that would expand the private school voucher program, and I again voiced my concern about the lack of oversight. We’ve also learned the out-of-state company that was making nearly $4 million annually to run this program has been dropped because they’ve done such a poor job. Who knows how much more waste will be uncovered?  These funds should have gone to our public schools all along.” – Assistant Democratic Floor Leader Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City.

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For more information, contact: 
Sen. Julia Kirt at 405-521-5636 or Julia.Kirt@oksenate.gov
Sen. Carri Hicks at 405-521-5543 or Carri.Hicks@oksenate.gov