House Speaker Tim Moore says the legislature plans to add $300 million to the state's private school voucher program.
More than 72,000 people applied to the Opportunity Scholarship program after state lawmakers expanded who's eligible for the vouchers. The program is now open to all families regardless of their income, but the high demand meant that only about 13,000 students at lower income levels will receive vouchers this year.
Moore says the legislature can afford to make sure no one is left out.
"It's just shown there's much more demand for it. There's a lot of parents who want their kids to to be attending either religious or private school. And so I think we ought to be able to step up, but we have the money," he said, "The savings reserve has money set aside."
Moore says he thinks the budget will still have money for teacher raises. But he wasn't sure how lawmakers will approach a request to fund childcare facilities that are grappling with a loss of federal money this year.