Johnston, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds and the wife of Florida’s governor shared the stage last (Thursday) night at a “Mamas for DeSantis” event for Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
Casey DeSantis called Iowa’s new state-funded Education Savings Accounts a game changer.
In March, Governor Ron DeSantis expanded Florida’s law, eventually making about 85-hundred dollars in state money available for every student to cover the costs of private school or home schooling.
Governor Reynolds announced yesterday that Iowa parents had applied for state-funded accounts to cover private school costs for 29-thousand children.
Sixty percent of the 17-thousand-500 approved applications Reynolds mentioned are for students already enrolled in a private school. Parents who filed the other applications need to submit more paperwork to show they meet the income guidelines to qualify. Reynolds also asked DeSantis about a welfare reform initiative called “Hope Florida” that has state agencies connect welfare recipients with resources available from religious groups, non-profits and the private sector.
DeSantis says there are plenty of private citizens who’re willing to help meet the needs of people who qualify for government assistance.
Neither DeSantis nor Reynolds mentioned next week’s special legislative session that Reynolds has called to pass new abortion restrictions. DeSantis ended the event by invited the crowd to join “Mamas for DeSantis.” She launched a similar group in Florida about five months before her husband won reelection as Florida’s governor by a nearly 20 point margin.
