Tax Credit Programs Extend School Choice and Enable Kids to Attend Better Schools

Originally published by LNP/Lancaster Online.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, which—combined with the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit program—has served more than a million kids. However, instead of celebrating this milestone, some lawmakers placed this popular and successful program on the chopping block.

Democratic state Rep. Nikki Rivera, D-Lancaster, introduced legislation that, by our calculation, would have cut thousands of scholarships. But after facing significant public pushback (including from concerned parents), House Democrats amended the bill to stop the immediate cuts. However, they still adopted punitive eligibility criteria, a tax on scholarship organizations, and requirements that we believed would undermine donor privacy, resulting in fewer scholarships.

Thankfully, another bill expanding the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program passed with broad bipartisan support in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Read more at LNP/Lancaster Online.