State of Choice: May 2024

As of this month, EdChoice is tracking 83 bills in 30 states relating to education savings accounts (ESAs), vouchers, refundable tax credits, and tax-credit scholarships this year. About 76% of that legislation relates to ESAs.

Louisiana

Yesterday, Louisiana lawmakers passed SB 313, a bill to establish an ESA program in the state that will eventually be available to all students. Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign the legislation, making Louisiana the 12th state to enact a choice program with universal eligibility, and the fourth in 2024 to enact a new ESA program. ESA amounts will be set by the state board of education and participating families may use the funds to cover a wide number of qualified expenses, such as tuition, curriculum, textbooks, testing fees, educational services, therapies, and more.

Missouri

Gov. Mike Parson signed SB 727 into law this month, legislation expanding the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program. The law will expand the tax-credit education savings account program’s geographical borders to include students statewide, make siblings of participating students eligible, increase the funding cap from $50 million to $75 million, and raise income eligibility from 200% to 300% of the Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) rate.

New Hampshire

Passed by the House in February, HB 1665 was originally written as a substantial expansion to the state’s Education Freedom Account (EFA) Program. It would have increased the income eligibility limit from 350% to 500% Federal Poverty Level (FPL), making about 69% of the state eligible. Given the tightening legislative House margins, concurrence was seen as a murky path in the House if the Senate were to amend HB 1665, and proponents of the legislation had urged the Senate to pass HB 1665 clean to send it directly to Gov. Chris Sununu, a supporter of the legislation.

Despite this, Senate leadership insisted on a much smaller expansion and added new regulations to the program. In late May, the Senate amended HB 1665 to instead increase the program from 350% to 400% FPL and add new regulations. Those regulations include new reporting requirements; reducing administrative fees collected from EFA families from 10% to 8%; extending phase-out grants to 2029; which provide temporary compensation to district schools partially covering what a school loses when a student switches to an EFA; and revising definitions for average daily membership in attendance and average daily membership in residence so that district schools will receive some compensation (0.15 of a pupil per course) for a home-schooled or EFA student participating in a district school course.

The legislation’s fate will be decided by a committee of conference rather than face an attempt at concurrence in the House.

North Carolina

Passed by the Senate in May, H 823/S 406 appropriates more money for Opportunity Scholarships, allowing for the elimination of the program’s waitlist.

Oklahoma

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed HB 3388 and SB 358 into law in May.

HB 3388 will provide program updates to the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act, enacted in 2023. Improvements include changes such as shifting the program to operate on a fiscal year instead of a tax year, excluding the credit from inclusion as taxable income or being used to offset tax debt, fees, or liabilities, adjustments to the application process, and including eligibility for students attending schools exclusively serving students experiencing homelessness and schools that primarily serve low-income students.

SB 358 will expand the Lindsey Nicole Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program. The law removes the prior-public requirement and expands eligibility to students adopted while in the custody of other agencies or federally recognized tribes and students enrolling in schools exclusively serving students experiencing homelessness. Students in out-of-home placements are not required to have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or service plan to qualify for LNH.

Pennsylvania

This month, the Senate Committee on Education voted to advance SB 795, legislation including PASS scholarships, formerly known as Lifeline Scholarships. The program would offer an Education Opportunity Account to students who are in low-achieving schools and from families with incomes at or below 250% FPL, about $75,000 for a family of four. The proposal initially allocated $100 million for the program but was amended in committee to leave out a fixed dollar amount.