Private school voucher bill approved by SC House. How is it different from a Senate plan
Families hoping to use state money to send their students to a private school now have two possibilities of how the program may restart.
The General Assembly’s two chambers have each passed their own version of an educational scholarship account bill that would allow families to use state money for private schools.
The different proposals means lawmakers appear to be headed to a conference committee to work out the differences.
“We knew they’re going to be differences,” said state Sen Greg Hembree, R-Horry, who chairs the Senate Education Committee. “We’ve been to this rodeo, now it’s a third time. So each time we have to work out the differences between the House and the Senate. But on two prior occasions, we’ve been able to do that.”
Here are the differences in the bill:
Amount of the scholarship
Senate version: at 90% of the average per pupil funding from state sources. Currently that would be about $7,500.
House version: $6,000 per student
Funding source
Senate version: Lottery money. Lottery revenues have been declining as fewer people carry cash to play the lottery. A bill that would allow people to use debit cards to buy lottery tickets is sitting in the state Senate. Debit cards could bring in $52 million into state coffers, according to lottery commission estimates.
House version: General fund revenue, such as state income taxes and sales tax revenue. The House Ways and Means budget proposal for the 2025-26 fiscal year includes $45 million more for the program.
Number of students
Senate version: 10,000 students for the first year, and 15,000 students for the second year.
House version: 10,000 students for the first year and 15,000 students for the second year. In subsequent years the number of students would be limited only by how much money budget writers set aside for the program.
Eligibility
Both versions open up the program to families at 300% of the federal poverty level for the first year, and 400% of the federal poverty level for the second year. The program also would be open to siblings of children already enrolled in the program.
House version also includes children who are in the custody of the Department of Social Services and children whose parents are active duty military It also removes the income cap in subsequent years.
Who distributes the money
Senate version: The Department of Education
House version: A trustee appointed by the Department of Education and separate from the department.
Why are lawmakers debating this again?
Last year, the state Supreme Court struck down the private school portion of the educational scholarship trust fund law because of provision in the state constitution that bars public money from being used to directly benefit private or religious schools.
Students still can transfer from one public school to another public school with the state money following them.
Those opposed to the bill during Wednesday’s House debate pushed to have a constitutional amendment put on the ballot to remove the prohibition against public money from going to private or religious schools. But that effort was stopped during the debate.
“You have to do some mental gymnastics to believe this public money is not public money,” state Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, said during the House debate.
If the two chambers are able to come to an agreement on which direction to go, the final product will most likely end up in front of the state Supreme Court, which has a different makeup, again to see if it considers the program constitutional.
Hembree was confident the Senate’s approach using lottery money would work better in front of court.
“I know I’ve got a sure thing over here. I’ve got a maybe over there, and I really don’t want to do this thing four times, and I don’t want to see families left in the lurch again,” Hembree said.
State Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, who chairs the House Education and Public Works Committee, argued using lottery money would be a novel concept and the court has not weighed in on that question before. College scholarships paid for by lottery revenue have never been legally challenged.
“I believe we could get the same answer if that is the route we went,” Erickson said.
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Private school voucher bill approved by SC House. How is it different from a Senate plan."
