Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Rubio blasts banks for voucher move
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio criticized Fifth Third and Wells Fargo banks in a statement on Monday, saying the companies were seeking “‘wokeness’ points from the radical left” after they halted contributions to Florida’s largest voucher program unless the state prohibits private schools that receive the money from discriminating against LGBTQ students.
The banks’ decision came after the Orlando Sentinel reported Jan. 23 that more than $105 million from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which pays for low-income children to attend private schools, went to campuses with antiLGBTQ policies last year. The program is funded by companies that receive dollar-for-dollar tax write-offs for their contributions.
Fifth Third, which sent $5.4 million to the program in 2018, said it wouldn’t contribute again “until more inclusive policies have been adopted by all participating schools to protect the sexual orientation of all our students.” Similarly, Wells Fargo said it opposed “discrimination of any kind.”
But the Florida Republican described the banks’ announcements as a “publicity stunt,” calling the scholarships by the name of the nonprofit organization that administers most of them.
“Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bank’s decision to stop donating to Florida’s Step Up For Students scholarships is a publicity stunt aimed at earning ‘wokeness’ points with the radical left,” Rubio said. “They aren’t punishing the small handful of schools whose policies they don’t like. They are punishing the thousands of underprivileged parents and students who may lose the chance to attend a school they otherwise couldn’t afford.”
After Fifth Third and Wells Fargo announced they were withdrawing their support last week, three other companies followed suit. Current Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, a supporter of Florida’s voucher programs, was Rubio’s chief of staff when he was Florida House speaker.
Parents who receive the scholarships can use them to send their children to about 2,000 participating schools, many of them religious. An Orlando Sentinel investigation found more than 150 Christian schools that receive vouchers have written anti-LGBTQ policies.
Of that number, 83 said they could refuse to admit, or could expel, students who are gay or transgender.
Campuses with antiLGBTQ policies served more than 16% of about 104,000 students who received tax-credit scholarships during the 2018-19 school year, records from Step Up For Students and the Florida Department of Education show.
The names of the companies that contribute to the program, and how much they give, aren’t public record. But information on Step Up’s website identifies some of the corporations that have diverted their tax dollars to the program, though not always how much.
After companies announced last week they were stopping contributions to the program, Step Up apparently removed its annual report, which includes a list of donors, from its website.
Many of the companies that fund the tax-credit scholarships publicly support the LGBTQ community, vowing to make employment decisions without regard to sexual orientation or sponsoring events such as Orlando’s Come out with Pride festivities. Fifth Third sent dozens of employees in rainbow-decorated T-shirts and a float to Orlando’s Most Colorful Parade, held in October as part of the annual gay pride festivities.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, responded to Rubio on Twitter, saying the issue “isn’t about ‘culture wars.’” She has filed a bill that would prohibit schools that receive vouchers from discriminating against LGBTQ students.
“This is about making sure ALL kids who benefit from programs via @StepUp4Students & programs like it are safe and free from discrimination,” Eskamani wrote. “Who else thinks he (along with others) are trying to distract us?”
After the announcements from the two banks, Wyndham Destinations, which sent a rainbow-decked float to Orlando’s gay pride parade in October, released a statement on Thursday saying it too would stop contributions to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program unless discrimination against LGBTQ students is prohibited. It has contributed $6.75 million since 2011, most recently in December 2018. The hotel and vacation club giant said it wants to make sure the program “does not indirectly endorse any form of discrimination and that all participating schools foster a culture of respect and inclusion.”
Similarly, ABC Fine Wines and Spirits, said it last donated to the scholarship fund in 2018 and “will not in the future under the current policy,” spokesman Sean Kelly wrote in an email.
“We remain committed to diversity and inclusion for all students and would never knowingly donate to any organization that discriminates,” he wrote.
Cigar City Brewing also said it was ending donations to the program until changes are made.
In June, prominent Central Florida hotelier Harris Rosen ended his support for the state program after the Sentinel initially reported on a few Central Florida private schools that refuse to serve gay students.
Rosen, who has steered $1.3 million to the program since 2003, said he wouldn’t contribute to the program again unless discrimination is prohibited.
The Sentinel then contacted hundreds of other companies that supported the program to gauge their views. In the fall, Allegiant Travel Company, Axiom Bank and insurance firm Euler Hermes said they wouldn’t donate again now that they were aware of where some money went.