
May 21, 2021
Gov. Stitt Signs Bill To Expand Tax Credit Scholarships
Happy Friday, everyone. As the Legislative session winds down, we are seeing a flurry of education-related bills cross the finish line. One I’d like to highlight today is Senate Bill 1080, which was signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt Friday after receiving final approval from the Legislature.
Senate Bill 1080 will expand the state’s Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship program by raising the cap on tax credits from $5 million to $50 million. Taxpayers (individuals, married couples and corporations) can receive a tax credit for up to 75% of their donation, reducing their total tax liability.
Currently the cap is $3.5 million for donations to private school tuition scholarships and $1.5 million to grant-awarding organizations that support public schools. Senate Bill 1080 raises the caps to $25 million each.
But the reality is, donations on the public school program side have never caught up to private school donations. Public school donations have never even met the $1.5 million cap, while private school donations exceeded the $3.5 million cap in 2017 and 2018.
In 2018, the latest year of tax data available, the lopsided tax credits look like this: $240,000 for public school donations and $4 million for private school donations. (A provision allows credits not claimed by one program to be claimed by the other.)
Do you have experience with the Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship program? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. As always, email and DMs open. Have a great weekend.
— Jennifer Palmer
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- Critical Race Theory in the Classroom: Understanding the Debate [ABC News]
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