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Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023

Is there a proposal to spend Nevada’s surplus on private school vouchers?


yes

Education Freedom for Nevada, a political action committee, proposed a constitutional amendment to allow parents to access state funds to pay for private school tuition by establishing education freedom accounts.

In a decision issued in September 2022, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a district court’s order to invalidate the statutory ballot initiative because it did not include any funding provisions.

Article 19, Section 6 of the Nevada Constitution “does not permit the proposal of any statute or statutory amendment which makes an appropriation or otherwise requires the expenditure of money, unless such statute or amendment also imposes a sufficient tax, not prohibited by the Constitution, or otherwise constitutionally provides for raising the necessary revenue.”

More recently, Gov. Joe Lombardo said he will expand school choice, including increasing funding of Opportunity Scholarships, a tax credit-funded program for certain students at private K-12 institutions.

See a full discussion of this at The Nevada Independent

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

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The Nevada Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news and opinion website founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon Ralston. The site and its supporting channels are focused on ethical, unbiased and transparent journalism. In general, we aim to gather and disseminate important public information and increase civic engagement. We are supported by corporate donations, memberships, event ticket sales and sponsorships and foundation grants. We disclose all our members and donors. Donors have no influence over our content, ever. The Nevada Independent is the dba for Nevada News Bureau, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2010 by Elizabeth Thompson, who now serves as one of The Nevada Independent's managing directors and its Editor.

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