House Speaker Jason White was not happy the Senate killed his expansive school choice bill, without even taking a full vote. 

Now House leaders appear to be sending a message to the other chamber: Most of the education bills passed by the Senate have been sent to two committees in the House, or “double-referred,” a tactic often used to kill bills or delay their passage and overhaul them. 

White said he is not trying to kill off Senate education measures — many of which mirror elements of the now-defunct House omnibus school choice bill. But Senate leaders this week took the double referral of their education bills as an indication otherwise.

Over the past six weeks, the two chambers of the Legislature have been warring over school choice, policies aimed at giving parents more power over their children’s education, usually by funding private schooling with public dollars. It’s been White’s top issue this session, with backing from numerous interest groups and the Trump White House. 

But educators statewide have opposed the move, and the Republican Senate leadership has been steadfast in its opposition to spending tax dollars on private schools.

The 500-page bill White authored, House Bill 2, would have greatly expanded school choice in Mississippi by establishing education savings accounts. These would allow parents to spend public money on private school tuition. 

But the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Republican Sen. Dennis DeBar of Leakesville, killed House Bill 2 after only 84 seconds of deliberation last week. 

READ MORE: ‘The bill dies today.’ Senate committee kills House school choice measure

While White denounced Senate leaders on social media last week after their decision to kill House Bill 2, he denied on Tuesday that he was trying to thwart passage of Senate education bills in response.

“It’s no way a response to House Bill 2,” he said. “If you were to go back and take the time and look at House bills that were dropped by House members, I don’t even know how many … but there were huge numbers that were double-referred.”

The double-referrals didn’t escape DeBar’s notice.

“All I can do is control what I can control,” DeBar said on Tuesday, and added that he hoped legislators could “all work together,” instead of devolving into infighting.

For a bill to become law, it must pass through its original chamber’s assigned committees and its full chamber, and then do the same in the opposite chamber. “Double-referring,” or sending a bill to multiple committees, is one tactic legislative leaders use to prevent a bill’s passage because the same version of the bill must pass all of those committees and the floor votes. If a bill is changed at all, the process begins anew. 

Both chambers’ leaders — the speaker in the House and the lieutenant governor in the Senate — assign bills to committees.

White recently told reporters that he’s considering all options to keep pushing for private school choice policies, so he could attempt to revive the education savings account legislation by inserting language in another education bill, potentially even one of the Senate’s.

Meanwhile, there does appear to be some tacit agreement between House and Senate leaders on allowing more school choice among public schools, usually called “open enrollment,” or “portability.”

Senate Bill 2002, which removes the veto ability of the home school district if a public school student requests a transfer elsewhere, is alive in the House. It’s one of three Senate education bills that have been passed by the Senate and assigned to only one committee in the House. 

A handful of other Senate education bills still await committee assignment in the House. 

Politics reporter Taylor Vance contributed to this story.