Local legislators react to special session

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- We are hearing reaction to the passage of the Tennessee Education Freedom Act.

The bill, which passed both chambers of the General Assembly yesterday, will allow for students to choose to attend a private school with public dollars.

It calls for 20,000 students to get scholarships a year to private schools, with priority for students who are or below three hundred percent of the poverty line.

Critics of the new law argue this legislation will take away funding from public schools.

Representative Greg Vital, who voted for the bill, says that is not the case.

“The Education Freedom Act allows parents and families to have a choice in where their students go to school. It also reaffirms our commitments to public schools, with no decrease in funding. It also makes sure that there are options and choices and investments for improvements of our public school system. So I think this is a win-win,” he said.

This program will go into effect next school year.

Additionally during this week’s special session, legislation tackling immigration was passed in Tennessee.

The bill creates an immigration enforcement division within the Tennessee Department of Safety to enforce federal immigration laws.

It also includes a provision to charge local officials with a felony and be removed from office if they vote for sanctuary city policies to not turn over undocumented arrestees to ICE.

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp was asked about what its impact could be here, saying his role as county mayor would not be the most directly impacted by the new law as the county mayor is not the chief enforcement officer.

“That’s probably a question better answered for Sheriff Garrett. I think the State Legislature had healthy debate on this subject. I don’t understand how the speech of a legislator alone would be a criminal offense,” he said.

The ACLU is filing a challenge to this law arguing the targeting of local officials is unconstitutional.