Erick Erickson’s conservative conference was mostly focused on national politics and policies. But he carved out a segment with a prominent local advocate to discuss one of Georgia’s most divisive debates.
Cole Muzio of Frontline Policy Council urged the crowd to rally behind a Republican effort to adopt what would have been a significant expansion of private school vouchers that failed this year despite support from Gov. Brian Kemp and other GOP leaders.
Senate Bill 233 would have tapped taxpayer dollars to finance a $6,500 per student voucher to pay for private school tuition and home-school expenses, part of a new wave of flexible “education savings accounts” adopted in about a dozen other states.
It was defeated in the final hours of the session, halted by a rebellion from 16 House Republicans. So unexpected was the outcome that Democrats broke decorum and cheered its failure from the chamber’s floor.
Muzio said the GOP defectors betrayed the party – and he warned that they need to watch their backs next year if they don’t back a new vote on the issue in 2024.
“On the eighth day God created a beautiful thing called primaries,” he said to laughs form the crowd, adding: “I don’t want to go primary a bunch of people, but if they don’t do the right things for our kids, this is a moral issue.”
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