NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Governor Bill Lee’s much-changed ESA or “school voucher” bill passed after what some called “extremely rare procedural moves” Tuesday, according to WKRN News 2.

State Rep. Jason Hodges of Clarksville told ClarksvilleNow.com the bill ended with a tied vote (49-49) on the House floor, which in most cases would mean the bill was effectively dead.

However, in a surprising move, Speaker Glen Casada left the vote open for approximately 45 minutes so supporters of the bill could try to sway other voters.

Assistant House Republican Leader Ron Gant of West Tennessee and Knoxville Republican Rep. Jason Zachary, who both originally voted “no,” were the legislators that supporters tried to sway, according to WKRN.

Ultimately, Rep. Zachary flipped his vote and the measure was announced passed with a 50-48 vote.

However, Zachary said he only agreed to the bill after he was promised Knox County would be removed from counties where students would be eligible for the annual $7,300 vouchers.

Rep. Hodges told ClarksvilleNow.com that he was opposed to the bill, which he addressed on the House floor Tuesday. He described the bill, which allows public funding to be used at private schools, as controversial.

“We’ve talked a lot about failing schools, but we never really talk about why they’re failing,” Hodges said. “It’s hard to educate a child that goes home Friday from school and doesn’t get to eat again until Monday. It’s hard to educate a child that has an ear infection and cries himself to sleep every night because his parents can’t afford to take him to the doctor. It’s hard to educate a child that is in his first period class and is just anxiously awaiting that 7th period bell, hoping it doesn’t ring, because he knows he’s got to go home to an abusive stepfather. Those are the kinds of issues that our public school system faces.”

He said he believes that the money allocated for vouchers should go to feeding hungry schoolchildren and ensuring they have health care, rather than into the hands of private corporations.

Up to 15,000 students in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton County—the counties that make up the metropolitan areas of Nashville, Memphis and Chattanooga—would be eligible for the ESA vouchers under the latest plan from the House if Knox County is removed, WKRN reported.

Under the bill, the rest of the state’s 91 counties are not eligible for ESAs, but can qualify for different grants, worth millions of dollars, to help improve teacher pay and build new schools.

Hodges called the move to hold the vote Tuesday a “stunt” and said regardless of his position on a bill, the action was undemocratic.

“I don’t think that’s how our system is designed to work. We shouldn’t just hold a bill until we can pay off enough
members to vote in favor of it. It’s inappropriate,” he said.

The Senate must now pass its own version of the bill, and the two versions must be reconciled before anything can be passed.