Tax Credit Expansion for Private Scholarships (H 5804)

We opposed this legislation which would have greatly increased the tax credit program for businesses that make donations to “scholarship organizations” that funnel money to private and parochial schools for tuition purposes. At a time when public schools’ budgets across the state continue to face severe hardships, it is unacceptable to be expanding the aid the state provides to private schools, even if done indirectly through a tax credit, especially because 90% of the tax funds under this program go to pay for tuition at religious schools. While a divided U.S. Supreme Court has upheld this type of program as not violating the First Amendment’s guarantee of separation of church and state, as a matter of policy we strongly object to the use of tax credits for the main benefit of sectarian education. This bill died in committee.