BRIEF: School Choice in the States, December 2018

LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION

Montana

Montana Supreme Court’s struck down the state’s tax-credit scholarship program on Dec. 24, 2018. Our Vice President of Legal Affairs Leslie Hiner issued a statement that said the court’s decision was “an extraordinary departure from years of legal precedent set by state, federal, and U.S. Supreme Court decisions.” Attempts to stay the ruling pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court are underway.

Missouri

Legislators in Missouri have pre-filed several bills to advance educational choice. HB 34 and SB 160 would each create a new tax credit-funded education savings account program, and HB 33 would create a new funding mechanism for Bryce’s Law that would finally offer tax credits in return for contributions to scholarship organizations, just as originally intended.

IN OTHER NEWS

Illinois’s Invest in Kids Program broke the record in December for most funds raised for a first-year tax-credit scholarship program. It raised more than $60 million via its 75 percent tax credits, eclipsing the first year of Florida’s dollar-for-dollar Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which raised $50 million.