This isn’t the first time a famous person has thrown their weight behind vouchers.
When the proposal first arose during last year’s budget talks, supporters sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to pass it, and signers included both prominent conservatives like Grover Norquist and former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as well as music industry figures with Philadelphia ties such as Mill and talent manager Troy Carter.
It’s also not the only major effort currently underway to promote vouchers in the commonwealth.
The other one is decidedly un-Hollywood. Commonwealth Action, a group formed last year, has prodigiously funded pro-voucher advertisements. Spokesperson Erik Telford said the effort is not connected to Jay-Z’s, though he added that the organization is “excited” about the celebrity involvement.
Slightly more information is available about Commonwealth Action’s effort, though crucially, the source of its funding is secret.
The group is incorporated as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, which means it doesn’t have to share its donors publicly; opponents have dubbed these “dark money” organizations. Commonwealth Action formed last year just before budget talks began, and has spent almost $1 million in the past year to pressure lawmakers, according to state lobbying disclosures.
The group has funded a series of digital, newspaper, radio, and billboard ads advocating for the voucher program.
From January to March of this year, the group reported spending nearly $98,000 on indirect lobbying, which targets the public. (Direct lobbying targets state officials or employees.)
Telford confirmed to Spotlight PA that this spending is ongoing, and said it resumed for the new budget season in March. Google’s political advertising tracker also shows that in May, the group began running digital ads for the first time this year.
“Commonwealth Action remains steadfast in our support for Governor Shapiro’s promise to enact Lifeline Scholarships, ensuring Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable children have access to a quality education,” Telford said in a statement. “The momentum that you see, with celebrities joining alongside parents in highlighting the demand for these scholarships, shows the progress that is possible here in Pennsylvania.”
Commonwealth Action has ties to some of Pennsylvania’s most powerful and monied conservatives.
It is connected to the Commonwealth Foundation, a prominent Republican think tank in Pennsylvania, and the two share personnel.
Between October 2022 and September 2023, Commonwealth Action also received $575,000 from Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, according to that group’s most recent filings to the IRS.
Commonwealth Partners — which is run by the Commonwealth Foundation’s former CEO — is a free market organization that operates two political action committees that are among the most active in Pennsylvania’s pro-voucher movement. Both PACs are almost entirely financed by Yass, a billionaire Wall Street trader.
The voucher proposal that Jay-Z and Commonwealth Action are pushing would give low-income families whose children attend “low-achieving” schools up to $15,000 to pay for private school tuition and fees.
A family would be eligible for the program only if their child attends a school that ranks in the bottom 15% in test scores, and if the household income is less than 250% of the federal poverty limit — or about $62,000 for a family of three.
Jay-Z’s group is publicly lobbying for $300 million in taxpayer money for scholarships. State Senate Republicans asked for $100 million last year. The bill’s language this year doesn’t have a price tag.
Last year, state House Democrats who control the chamber presented a united front and pressured Shapiro to remove a voucher proposal from the budget. That front so far appears to be intact, despite the increased pressure.
“Folks have not called, emailed, or contacted my office about the numerous mailers from the Commonwealth Foundation,” state Rep. Donna Bullock (D., Philadelphia) told Spotlight PA. So far, she hasn’t noticed any new calls after Jay-Z’s jump into the field either.
State Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Philadelphia) is a vocal advocate for alternatives to public schools and told Spotlight PA that “it’s always helpful to have people involved in conversations that can connect with the public.”
But amid June’s complicated budget debates, he said, “I’m not quite sure what [Jay-Z’s involvement] does with regard to the political process.”