A bill which would create a form of education vouchers for Iowa students has been refined from its original form; and State Sen. Amy Sinclair says there will be controls in place to prevent those monies from being misused.

Education savings accounts were originally being developed to permit public school students to attend private schools through the use of tuition monies provided by the state. But requirements have become more stringent, as the original form of the bill faced criticism because of the potential for using these monies for non-education purposes.

Sen. Sinclair tells KNIA/KRLS News those who qualify for these grants would be required to follow stricter rules, and would be reimbursed for expenses rather than receiving the funds up front.

“There are things that are specifically prohibited; transportation costs and technology costs, those things are specifically prohibited and would not be reimbursed through an education savings grant,” Sen. Sinclair says.

“Additionally, (families) would have to sign up to do the grant and agree at that time that they won’t, and that there are criminal charges that would apply if they did use the dollars for something that was prohibited.”

Sen. Sinclair says she and other colleagues in the State Senate had problems with portions of the bill, which kept them from supporting it and led to these changes.