Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed several Republican-sponsored bills Friday that would have granted tax credits for contributions to scholarship programs that could be used for nonpublic schooling.
The governor had promised last month to veto the proposed scholarship program that Democratic critics said would have incentivized sending kids to private schools.
Republican supporters of the bills say they want Michigan parents to be able to use money from wealthy donors to help meet the educational needs of their children, including the use of alternative and nonpublic programs.
But Democrats see the legislation as an attempt to implement a voucher program that wouldn’t line up with the state constitution, which requires Michigan to maintain and support a system of free, public elementary and secondary schools.
Though Whitmer vetoed the bills — Senate Bills 687 and688 and House Bill 5405 — a petition initiative based on the legislation that would allow public funding to be steered to private schooling is currently in the works.
The Let MI Kids Learn ballot committee could get the proposal to the Republican-led legislature for it to adopt without Whitmer’s approval with just over 340,000 signatures.