Updated: House Appropriations Subcommittee Approves HB1965, HB2104 and HB1985
School Choice Virginia Applauds Legislators for Supporting Educational Choices
RICHMOND – Today the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education voted 5-2 in favor of Delegate Chris Saxman’s HB1965: Education Investment Tax Credit (EITC). The Subcommittee also approved on a 6-1 vote Delegate Bill Janis’s HB2104: Students with Disabilities Tuition Assistance Grant, into which they rolled Delegate John O’Bannon’s HB1985: Autism Tuition Assistance Grant. The bills will now be considered by the full Appropriations Committee.
Delegate Saxman’s EITC legislation is modeled after successful school choice programs in Pennsylvania and Florida, and creates individual and business tax credits for donations made to qualifying scholarship organizations, which award scholarships for students to attend the public or private school of their choice. The legislation also provides the tax credits for donations to public school foundations. Similar measure have been approved by the House of Delegates in each of the past four legislative sessions.
The Tuition Assistance Grant programs introduced by Delegates Janis and O’Bannon would provide tuition assistance up to $36,000 per year for attendance at an eligible private school for any K-12 student as defined by the Board of Education in its Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia who is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Ohio has implemented a similar program that has proved to be very successful.
“We are very pleased with today’s favorable votes on these educational choice measures by the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education,“ said School Choice Virginia Executive Director Whitney Duff. “These three bills are modeled on programs that have been demonstrated to work in other states, giving families access to greater educational options, improving educational opportunities for all students, and generating measurable cost-savings for states.
“We thank Delegates Janis, O’Bannon and Saxman for their leadership on these school choice measures, and we thank the members of the subcommittee for their support of these bills that will improve education for all Virginia students. Rather that trap students into a one-size-fits-all model, we encourage the full Appropriations Committee to embrace choice as an educational reform that can give all students in the Commonwealth the hope for a brighter future.”
School Choice Virginia is an organization working to expand educational choices for Virginia families to ensure every child has the opportunity to receive the education that best meets their unique and individual needs. As a 501(c)4, School Choice Virginia is non-partisan and can support specific legislation. In addition, School Choice Virginia works increase awareness of school choice initiatives and to demonstrate to elected leaders on all levels the broad-based support for educational reforms. Visit us online at www.SchoolChoiceVA.com.
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