PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona House committee has advanced legislation allowing every public school student to use state cash to attend a private school by 2020.
The expansion proposal in House Bill 2482 is the latest in a series that began after the Republican-controlled Legislature created the Empowerment Scholarship Account program in 2011.
The expansion approved Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee adds all public students over three years while maintaining existing enrollment caps. But that cap goes away in just three years, allowing all 1.1 million public school students to get a voucher.
Backers testified the current limits made it too hard to get a voucher. Opponents say expansion would rob the public school system of funds and questioned how the state could avoid paying tuition for private school students.
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Associated Press 2016
