Democrats back bill prohibiting state funds for private-school books
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee closed ranks Wednesday behind a bill that would prohibit public money from being spent on textbooks for private schools, perhaps putting the lawmakers at odds with a state Supreme Court decision.
The committee voted 10-4 along party lines for House Bill 45, which would require timely state funding for textbooks for public schools. The measure also would exclude private schools from receiving public money for books or other instructional materials.
Republican lawmakers say the bill defies a Supreme Court decision. The justices found in December that providing textbooks to private schools, a long-standing practice in New Mexico, is permissible under the state constitution.
Democrats on the committee said the New Mexico Supreme Court decision made it clear that the practice of providing textbooks for private schools does not violate the constitution. But, they said, that does not mean the state Public Education Department has to pay for and supply textbooks to private and religious schools.
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