Hunter
03/13/24
A citizens advocate group has blasted the Iowa House Ethics Committee for unanimously dropping a complaint against a state rep who reportedly is profiting from the new school voucher program.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement says in a release that Representative Dean Fisher of House District 53 played a critical role in Governor Kim Reynolds’ plan to get her school voucher program passed. After the measure failed in 2022, the Governor primaried several Republican legislators and replaced them with pro-voucher Republicans, including Fisher.
ICCI board President Barb Kalbach says that shortly after the voucher legislation became law, Fisher helped establish, and became Board President of, Tama Toledo Christian School. When it begins operating next year, Fisher anticipates a student population of up to 160 students, which translates to about $1.2 million in state ESA funding that will, in Kalbach’s words, allow Fisher to profit from legislation he helped pass. She called the House Ethics Committee’s 6-0 vote to dismiss the complaint “shameful.”