Bush Voucher Plan Fails To Get Vote In Texas Legislature.

A school voucher plan backed by Texas Gov. George W. Bush failed after Democrats in the state Senate refused to let it come up for a vote.

Bush and his supporters in the legislature had hoped that vouchers would pass in Texas this year. But public opinion leaned anti-voucher, and many Democrats were galvanized by efforts by pro-voucher groups to pour money into the coffers of candidates who backed vouchers.

The Bush-backed proposal, sponsored by Sen. Teel Bivins (R-Amarillo), would have provided vouchers to students in six urban Texas counties where public schools are deemed "failing."

Partisan politics played a large role in the measure's defeat. One survey found that pro-voucher groups had channeled $5.2 million to pro-voucher candidates last November, most of them Republicans. In addition, San Antonio millionaire James Leininger personally distributed $1.8 million to pro-voucher groups and spent an additional half million lobbying through his group, Putting Children First.

But Leininger's organization may have made a tactical error in January 1998 when it sent a letter to out-of-state business leaders seeking funds to underwrite an effort to remove anti-voucher Democrats from office. The group, which had claimed to be non-partisan, lost much Democratic support. Bob Bullock, then lieutenant governor and the state's top-ranking Democrat, resigned as honorary chair of the organization.

In other news about school vouchers:

* Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge's voucher plan has failed yet again. Ridge had hoped to push his proposal through before the legislature recessed for the summer but failed. The House of Representatives adjourned June 17 without voting on it.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Ridge, who declared vouchers a top priority, pressured legislators and tried to cut deals with as many as possible. "The store is open," quipped Rep. T.J. Rooney, a Lehigh Democrat.

But in the end too many lawmakers were frustrated by the rush and the fact that legislation was still being drafted as the deadline for adjourning approached.

During a June 23 campaign swing through Pennsylvania, Texas Gov. George W. Bush met with Ridge and told reporters that if elected president he will use the office as a bully pulpit to promote private school vouchers. Bush gave no specifics about the type of plan he would push but said details would come later.

* The Louisiana Senate voted 22-14 to kill a voucher plan in June, but supporters aren't giving up. "I can almost guarantee you that within the next four years, we will have some type of voucher program in this state," Kirby Ducote, executive director of the Louisiana Catholic Conference, told the Clarion-Herald, the newspaper of the New Orleans Roman Catholic Archdiocese.

* Virginia Gov. James Gilmore (R) has called for a voucher plan, though he has yet to offer specifics. Gilmore endorsed the concept during a radio address May 21. "If we can put forward a voucher plan that is going to help education for kids generally, then it's something we ought to consider," Gilmore said.

Gilmore's push could become an issue in Virginia's statewide elections this November. Republicans hope to take control of both chambers, which could give Gilmore the votes he needs to push a plan through.