Thanks to the grassroots efforts of board members from New Jersey and around the country, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (H.R. 4241) will not include the private school voucher plan. The bill was scheduled for two hours of debate and then a final vote last week, however, consideration of the bill has been postponed until further notice.

The House Rules Committee, chaired by Rep. David Dreier of California sent the bill for full consideration by the House. The committee rejected efforts to add vouchers to the bill and issued a “closed rule,” meaning the voucher bill, H.R. 4097, cannot be added on the floor as an amendment.

In addition to strong Democratic opposition, 23 Republican representatives signed onto a letter opposing leadership attempts to add vouchers to the budget bill. Two New Jersey representatives were among them: Frank LoBiondo and Jim Saxton. NJSBA is urging board members who reside in the Second and Third Congressional Districts to send thank you letters to LoBiondo and Saxton for helping defeat this measure in the House. Addresses for the representatives can be found on NJSBA's Web site.

Even though H.R. 4241 will not include vouchers, the bill, once passed, will have to be reconciled with the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill (S. 1932), which does include provisions to send tax dollars to private schools to pay for the tuition of students displaced by the recent hurricanes.