Latest news with #ECCA
The Hill
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
The ‘big, beautiful' fight over school choice ends with escape clause for blue states
Republicans quietly passed a first-of-its-kind national school choice program in President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' but celebration among advocates was tempered after the Senate added a provision giving blue states a way out. The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) was on turbulent waters throughout the process, at one taken out of the bill due to the Senate Parliamentarian and leaving backers on the edge of their seats. Its final form lifts the cap on how much the federal government can spend on the issue, but its opt-in feature means school choice programs might not make new advances in the Democratic-led states supporters have long targeted. 'School choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st Century. Every child, regardless of race or wealth or ethnicity, deserves access to an excellent education. This tax credit provision will unleash billions of dollars every single year for scholarships for kids to attend the K-12 school of their choice,' Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in a speech before the Senate voted to pass the legislation, which President Trump signed on Friday. The basic premise of ECCA is a tax credit that will go to individuals or corporations who donate to nonprofits that offer educational scholarships to students looking for options outside of traditional public schools. The money from the program can go to certain qualified expenses such as tuition, fees, tutoring and supplies for students at public, private or religious schools. It can also cover transportation, room and board and computer equipment. 'One thing we should certainly not be doing is creating a two-tier education system in America — private schools for the wealthy and well-connected, and severely underfunded public schools for low-income, disabled and working class kids,' said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at a press conference against the reconciliation bill back in June, K-12 Dive reported. 'That is not what this country is supposed to be about.' School choice advocates and Republicans in Senate and House leadership fought hard for the provision, as it would represent the first national school choice program in the country, but in the end some of the language came up short for advocates. 'I will say the House version ended up being better than what passed, and there's still a lot to be done to see if it's improved on down the road,' said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice. 'I would phrase it this way — not to be a naysayer, which I'm not — I'm excited about it. So we at EdChoice are excited that more families have more options, except, I would say, Congress took a big swing at school choice and hit a single in this program,' Enlow added. The biggest loss for the school choice crowd was an opt-in option that was added in the Senate, which allows states to reject the tax credit. The provision says governors can decide whether to opt in to the program and designate which scholarship groups can participate in it. 'The option is new, and … they're going to have an additional hurdle to go through to ram vouchers into states like Michigan,' said Joshua Cowen, professor of education policy at Michigan State University. 'There's going to be enormous political pressure from these organizations to push governors, whether they're Democrats, whether they're Republicans, to opt into this. So … it doesn't give them the automatic force that they wanted to, their next pivot is going to be to try to put a lot of dollars behind pushing governors to opt into this bill,' he added. That tees up fights in states with divided governments. North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger (R) has said he is going to work to ensure his state participates in the program, setting up a conflict with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. 'I will write legislation to enable North Carolina to take part in President Trump's School Choice Plan, allowing taxpayers to write off contributions to organizations that fund private school scholarships,' Berger posted on X. There was also a cap added on how much a person can donate with the federal dollar for dollar tax credit, up to $1,700 a year, but the cap overall on how much the program can cost the federal government, which was at $5 billion in the beginning, was lifted entirely. An analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found if 59 million qualified taxpayers choose to take advantage of this tax credit, it could cost the federal government $101 billion per year, although it is highly unlikely that many would take part. Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the plan will initially cost $3 billion to $4 billion a year and go up overtime. 'There's potentially a lot more money that could get spent on this national DeVos voucher scheme moving forward, even if it doesn't automatically accomplish the goal of ramming it into blue states like initially sought out, they're going to have to take an additional step, but there's now more, much more money for them to potentially devote to this program,' Cowen said. Moving forward, both advocates and opponents of school choice will be looking to harden their positions, especially as some supportive of this measure are wary of hits made to protections for religious schools. John DeJak, director for the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the National Catholic Register he was concerned about language that was stripped out of the final version of the bill that guaranteed freedom of operation for religious schools that would accept money from this program. 'There are state level and federal level protections on religious liberty, and so those ideally can be helpful here. The rules and regulation process may affirm that even further as this program will go through Treasury rules, and then we'll really know exactly how it is implemented in the states. And so, we want to wait to see what the rules process looks like on that front,' said Brian Jodice, national press secretary for the American Federation for Children. Opponents will look to fight against states signing up for the program and emphasize concerns that this legislation will hurt public schools. 'The significant disparities in private school access [in] states … What does this mean for rural communities? What does it mean for kids with disabilities?' asked Blair Wriston, senior manager of government affairs at EdTrust. 'We're really disappointed that this provision was included, and we don't think it's going to improve outcomes for the 90 percent of kids in public schools. That should be our focus,' Wriston added.
American Press
09-07-2025
- Politics
- American Press
Cassidy says Trump budget bill ‘great news' for Americans
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy. (Special to the American Press) President Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' was signed into law by Trump on Friday. U.S. Sen. Cassidy, R-La., one of the 218 to vote in favor of the bill, said the bill's passage was the result of 'Republican's hard work.' While opponents of the bill have criticized cuts to social and health programs and increases in defense spending, and voiced concerns over long-term environmental effects, Republicans championed the bill as a salve for issues affecting the middle class. Cassidy is no exception. He called the legislation 'great news' for working and middle-income Americans, citing how it prevented the 'largest tax hike in history;' cut taxes on tips over time; 'secured the southern border; and expanded oil and gas production off the Louisiana coast, which should result in $100 million more funneled into Louisiana for coastal restoration issues, he said. 'We got it done. … Bottom line, this bill helps families who feel as if they've been left behind for decades. I worked hard to get a lot of stuff in this bill, stuff that's good for our country, good for our state and good for families.' Cassidy, who is the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, spearheaded the 'Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). This legislation, which was included in the 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' is the first federal school choice legislation to be signed into law. ECCA establishes a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit, up to $10 billion annually, for individuals and organizations' donations to scholarship-granting organizations, which distribute school-choice scholarships. This legislation is a step towards empowering parents to make educational decisions for their children, Cassidy said. 'President Trump and I are in agreement, a child should never be stuck in a failing school when mom or dad, usually mom, knows there's a better school right around the corner. He also 'worked to strengthen and protect Medicaid' in the 'Big, Beautiful Bill.' The bill calls for cuts to Medicaid that will total about one trillion dollars over the next decade. This has raised concerns for rural hospitals and small-town patients who rely on Medicaid for healthcare. To address this, Cassidy said he helped to create the Rural Health Transformation Program, which allows states to access, allocate and distribute rural health funding. The fund will provide $10 billion a year, over five years, to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which will distribute funding to eligible states. 'I'm a doctor who treated Medicaid patients for decades, and I'll always fight for the disabled American who needs Medicaid to enhance their life, to save their lives.' He also worked to expand the 'no tax on tips' portion of the bill to include barbers, beauticians and those in the food service industry, he said.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Idaho senators should protect school choice in ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' is now moving through the U.S. Senate, and conservative Christians are thrilled with many of the provisions that have been included so far. Although we don't yet know how the Senate version of the bill will shake out, it's worth noting that the version passed by the House late last month fulfills many of the pro-family policies made by the Trump administration. These include an expansion to the child tax credit for working families, tax benefits for adoptive parents and making permanent the Trump personal income and business tax cuts that fueled the above-average economic growth America experienced before the pandemic derailed international markets. However, one provision in particular that would improve educational access and outcomes for all students has flown under the radar so far. The provision would help more than one million students across the country access the educational support they need by creating special tax benefits for private donations to scholarship-granting organizations. It is modeled after the Educational Choice for Children Act, a federal proposal that has been introduced multiple times over the past several years and has earned the support of Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, as well as other conservative stalwarts like Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina. Scholarship-granting organizations already exist in many states, providing scholarships directly to students for tuition, tutoring, special needs services, education technology and curriculum materials. The provision offers both a supplement and alternative for students in states like Idaho, which has already begun moving down the road to more universal school choice programs by offering a new $5,000 refundable tax credit paid directly to the private school and homeschool families. Some parents — particularly within the homeschooling community — have voiced concerns that new school choice initiatives, such as Idaho's refundable tax credit, might jeopardize their educational freedom. After all, government money usually comes with strings attached. When you take the government cheese, you have to step into the regulatory mousetrap. And even if those restrictions aren't imposed right away, the door remains open for future state and federal mandates. Importantly, the ECCA provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill addresses these concerns by making sure no government funds go to the organizations, schools, or families involved — thereby avoiding another opportunity for government regulation. Instead, the ECCA establishes tax incentives for private donations to scholarship-granting organizations, which then award scholarships directly to students. Because this is private money — not government dollars — families can freely choose the best educational options for their children without government interference. All of this explains why the ECCA is supported by homeschool freedom advocates, including the Home School Legal Defense Association. In fact, the ECCA model helps ensure that parents remain in control of their children's education, consistent with biblical principles like Ephesians 6:4, which commands fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Not only would the ECCA provision in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' help parents fulfill this biblical responsibility, but it would also expand educational opportunities for children currently stuck in failing public schools, no matter the state in which they live. Nationwide school choice which empowers parents while also protecting educational freedom is a high priority for Trump — and it should be just as high a priority for our legislative branch as they set education policy. With that in mind, we call on the U.S. Senate to keep the ECCA provision in whichever version of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' they adopt. Our children — and their families — deserve it. Blaine Conzatti is the president of Idaho Family Policy Center.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's big bill includes an ‘unprecedented' tax credit for a national school voucher program. Here's how it would work
Part of the massive domestic policy bill currently moving through Congress known as the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' includes an unprecedented $5 billion national school voucher program. Republicans have long advocated for so-called school choice, but critics have labeled the initiative a tax cut for the wealthy. Sending public dollars to private schools has long been the subject of partisan divide and controversy. It has many powerful advocates, most notably former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served under Trump during his first term. And it has fierce critics, particularly on the left. But congressional Republicans' proposal, known as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), goes beyond any previous efforts, not just by creating the first nationwide program but also by creating an unusual federal tax credit for anyone wanting to donate toward the cause. Families making up to 300% of area median income would be able to apply for, and receive, scholarships to use toward private school tuition, homeschooling books or tutoring, for example. The money would be given out by third-party scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) certified by the US Treasury and IRS. Donors would be the ones to reap the tax benefits, though. Anyone across the country – with or without kids – would be able to donate to one of these SGOs as they would to any charity. But unlike donating to a church or food bank, where tax-deductible contributions help lower total taxable income, SGO donations would result in a full tax credit, dollar for dollar, up to the greater of $5,000 or 10% of one's income. For example, $1,000 donated to an SGO would result in $1,000 taken off one's tax bill. Advocates say these incentives would strongly encourage taxpayers to contribute and that the opportunities could change the lives of kids stuck in failing public schools. 'We have what might be a once-in-a-generation opportunity this year to capitalize on what has been a real movement at the state level for school choice by creating a pathway to supercharge school choice in every state in our nation through a school choice tax credit,' wrote Tommy Schultz, CEO of American Federation for Children, in an email to CNN. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says the program is generous – to say the least. 'A dollar-for-dollar charitable donation tax credit is unprecedented at the federal level,' he told CNN in an email. Furthermore, House Ways and Means committee staff verified to CNN that stocks would be accepted as donations in this proposal. Donors would receive a tax credit for the value of those stocks, without having to pay capital gains taxes that would have been required had the stock been sold instead. 'This is unbelievable,' said Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy for AASA, The School Superintendents Association. 'It's weaponizing the tax code to code to destroy our public schools.' But Schultz said, 'These concerns are not in good faith unless those raising them have also been calling to overhaul 501c3 giving overall.' On the state level, there are similar existing tax credits for donors contributing to state school voucher programs. An ITEP study showed that for three states providing data, Arizona, Louisiana and Virginia, more than half of all voucher tax credits are flowing to families with annual incomes over $200,000. The House narrowly passed the bill, and it is now in the hands of the Senate, where its future is uncertain. If passed, the ECCA would go into effect after December 31 and would cap annual tax credits to $5 billion, with the option of increasing the cap by 5% each year. The program would sunset at the end of 2029, unless Congress renews it. Families do need more educational choices, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), a nonpartisan research organization affiliated with Arizona State University. Of the various studies on school choice CRPE has done in the last 30 years, Lake said results can be mixed. She said study evidence is weak that vouchers result in better academic achievement for participating students. But Lake said there are more positive outcomes when looking at graduation rates and parent satisfaction – when school choice is done right. Lake described the pillars that make school choice most effective, which don't happen overnight: a supply of high-quality schools, incentives and startup funds for great school proposals, a pipeline to develop great educators, and accountability. 'Folks in the private school world can bristle at the idea of regulation, but in order for families to really take advantage of choice programs, they need to have some kind of information about how the schools are working,' she said. 'And I would argue that if public funds are going to support these schools, there's also a responsibility for some public accountability as well.' Accountability has become crucial, with recent investigations like one in Florida by WESH-TV, showing that 8,400 students had received reimbursements for theme park tickets through the state-funded vouchers. 'Critics are quick to point to examples of isolated waste being caught and addressed but are more hesitant to discuss the massive scope of fraud and waste documented and often unaddressed in the public education system – or the fact that public schools caught up in this type of waste often just keep getting more taxpayer dollars,' Schultz said. As written, the ECCA leaves accountability to the SGOs, who would verify and grant the use of scholarship dollars. SGOs would have to be certified by the US Treasury and IRS and would be subject to independent audit. 'Nothing is ever clean, right?' said Bridgette Garcia, a mother of four children who all graduated from St. Genevieve Parish Schools in the Los Angeles area. 'None of these different tax programs or programs within the government are (on the) up and up. But if somebody can actually benefit,' she said she would love to see that happen for families like hers, where she and her husband worked multiple jobs to afford tuition. Garcia's youngest child just graduated from St. Genevieve this June. She jokes that with tuition payments all done, her family can finally get a new car after driving the same 2007 Mercury and 2005 Torres for about 20 years. She wanted her children to have a Catholic education, 'where it's ok to say I believe in God and pray at the beginning of the day.' She was also concerned about the safety of their local public schools. Next year's tuition for St. Genevieve high school students is $13,475; elementary school tuition will be $7,550, prices Garcia says she couldn't afford if she didn't have scholarships provided by the school. But parents who are invested in their local public schools see this voucher program as a threat. 'It is sort of an abandonment of public schools,' said Maria Clark, whose two daughters are part of Daviess County Public Schools in Kentucky. Clark, who is on the board for the district foundation, said these vouchers would only exacerbate educational disparities, allowing some students to leave the public system while others may not be able to. Many private schools do not have resources to accommodate special needs students or may require certain testing or grades to be able to enroll. Some public school students, including those who are lower income – without transportation, for example - cannot simply switch to a private school if given a voucher. To those who say parents should be granted resources to put their children in better-performing private schools, Clark says, 'My argument is we can make all of those (good) things happen at public schools, and we should, because we already have money in public schools.' She worries that public schools will lose per-pupil funding as kids leave, even as parents like her already donate buckets of classroom tissues and pencils at the start of every school year. 'We have struggled to find bus drivers,' Clark said. 'Last year… we had busses doing two runs, and some of those kids would get to school an hour and a half, two hours late.' But Schultz, the school choice advocate, said that 'funneling more dollars into public schools in America does not equal improvement or make public schools the right fit for every kid.' The proposed ECCA would allow families making as much as 300% of area median income to receive scholarships. For Daviess County, that means a family of four making under $195,969 per year could still be eligible to receive scholarships for private school, using the US Census Bureau's estimates for 2019-2023. For Los Angeles County, a four-person household making under $263,280 would still be eligible. In the wealthiest county in the US, Loudoun County, Virginia, a family of four making under $536,121 could be eligible to receive scholarships for their children. The ECCA does not limit how much an SGO can give a family in scholarships. In some Democratic-leaning states like California, voters have already rejected the idea of voucher programs. If a nationwide program were to exist, it would be the first opportunity for parents in states like California to use vouchers to send children to private schools. The ECCA's donation process also benefits donors. Typically, someone who donates to a food bank or pet rescue would receive no more than 35 cents in tax savings for each dollar donated, according to ITEP. But someone who donates to private voucher groups would receive a full reimbursement for the donation, dollar for dollar. And stock donations could open up a way for wealthy donors to avoid paying capital gains taxes. ITEP estimates the bill would reduce federal tax revenue by $23.2 billion and state income taxes by $459 million over the next 10 years as currently drafted. 'There's a danger that politicians will increasingly pick and choose which kinds of donations get the best tax breaks and if your values don't align with theirs, well then you're out of luck,' ITEP's Davis wrote to CNN. Public school systems may also lose money, depending on how many students leave the district. Dr. Darin Brawley, superintendent of Compton Unified School District, said his district has already seen a 4% annual decline in enrollment as people leave the state, shrinking his budget by about $8 million per year. 'From the initial look at our enrollment trends for next year, we're already significantly behind,' Brawley said. If more students leave, Brawley worries about an 8% decline, which would result in the loss of $21.12 million and therefore layoffs, hiring freezes and bigger class sizes.
CNN
06-06-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump's big bill includes an ‘unprecedented' tax credit for a national school voucher program. Here's how it would work
Part of the massive domestic policy bill currently moving through Congress known as the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' includes an unprecedented $5 billion national school voucher program. Republicans have long advocated for so-called school choice, but critics have labeled the initiative a tax cut for the wealthy. Sending public dollars to private schools has long been the subject of partisan divide and controversy. It has many powerful advocates, most notably former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served under Trump during his first term. And it has fierce critics, particularly on the left. But congressional Republicans' proposal, known as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), goes beyond any previous efforts, not just by creating the first nationwide program but also by creating an unusual federal tax credit for anyone wanting to donate toward the cause. Families making up to 300% of area median income would be able to apply for, and receive, scholarships to use toward private school tuition, homeschooling books or tutoring, for example. The money would be given out by third-party scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) certified by the US Treasury and IRS. Donors would be the ones to reap the tax benefits, though. Anyone across the country – with or without kids – would be able to donate to one of these SGOs as they would to any charity. But unlike donating to a church or food bank, where tax-deductible contributions help lower total taxable income, SGO donations would result in a full tax credit, dollar for dollar, up to the greater of $5,000 or 10% of one's income. For example, $1,000 donated to an SGO would result in $1,000 taken off one's tax bill. Advocates say these incentives would strongly encourage taxpayers to contribute and that the opportunities could change the lives of kids stuck in failing public schools. 'We have what might be a once-in-a-generation opportunity this year to capitalize on what has been a real movement at the state level for school choice by creating a pathway to supercharge school choice in every state in our nation through a school choice tax credit,' wrote Tommy Schultz, CEO of American Federation for Children, in an email to CNN. Carl Davis, research director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, says the program is generous – to say the least. 'A dollar-for-dollar charitable donation tax credit is unprecedented at the federal level,' he told CNN in an email. Furthermore, House Ways and Means committee staff verified to CNN that stocks would be accepted as donations in this proposal. Donors would receive a tax credit for the value of those stocks, without having to pay capital gains taxes that would have been required had the stock been sold instead. 'This is unbelievable,' said Sasha Pudelski, director of advocacy for AASA, The School Superintendents Association. 'It's weaponizing the tax code to code to destroy our public schools.' But Schultz said, 'These concerns are not in good faith unless those raising them have also been calling to overhaul 501c3 giving overall.' On the state level, there are similar existing tax credits for donors contributing to state school voucher programs. An ITEP study showed that for three states providing data, Arizona, Louisiana and Virginia, more than half of all voucher tax credits are flowing to families with annual incomes over $200,000. The House narrowly passed the bill, and it is now in the hands of the Senate, where its future is uncertain. If passed, the ECCA would go into effect after December 31 and would cap annual tax credits to $5 billion, with the option of increasing the cap by 5% each year. The program would sunset at the end of 2029, unless Congress renews it. Families do need more educational choices, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), a nonpartisan research organization affiliated with Arizona State University. Of the various studies on school choice CRPE has done in the last 30 years, Lake said results can be mixed. She said study evidence is weak that vouchers result in better academic achievement for participating students. But Lake said there are more positive outcomes when looking at graduation rates and parent satisfaction – when school choice is done right. Lake described the pillars that make school choice most effective, which don't happen overnight: a supply of high-quality schools, incentives and startup funds for great school proposals, a pipeline to develop great educators, and accountability. 'Folks in the private school world can bristle at the idea of regulation, but in order for families to really take advantage of choice programs, they need to have some kind of information about how the schools are working,' she said. 'And I would argue that if public funds are going to support these schools, there's also a responsibility for some public accountability as well.' Accountability has become crucial, with recent investigations like one in Florida by WESH-TV, showing that 8,400 students had received reimbursements for theme park tickets through the state-funded vouchers. 'Critics are quick to point to examples of isolated waste being caught and addressed but are more hesitant to discuss the massive scope of fraud and waste documented and often unaddressed in the public education system – or the fact that public schools caught up in this type of waste often just keep getting more taxpayer dollars,' Schultz said. As written, the ECCA leaves accountability to the SGOs, who would verify and grant the use of scholarship dollars. SGOs would have to be certified by the US Treasury and IRS and would be subject to independent audit. 'Nothing is ever clean, right?' said Bridgette Garcia, a mother of four children who all graduated from St. Genevieve Parish Schools in the Los Angeles area. 'None of these different tax programs or programs within the government are (on the) up and up. But if somebody can actually benefit,' she said she would love to see that happen for families like hers, where she and her husband worked multiple jobs to afford tuition. Garcia's youngest child just graduated from St. Genevieve this June. She jokes that with tuition payments all done, her family can finally get a new car after driving the same 2007 Mercury and 2005 Torres for about 20 years. She wanted her children to have a Catholic education, 'where it's ok to say I believe in God and pray at the beginning of the day.' She was also concerned about the safety of their local public schools. Next year's tuition for St. Genevieve high school students is $13,475; elementary school tuition will be $7,550, prices Garcia says she couldn't afford if she didn't have scholarships provided by the school. But parents who are invested in their local public schools see this voucher program as a threat. 'It is sort of an abandonment of public schools,' said Maria Clark, whose two daughters are part of Daviess County Public Schools in Kentucky. Clark, who is on the board for the district foundation, said these vouchers would only exacerbate educational disparities, allowing some students to leave the public system while others may not be able to. Many private schools do not have resources to accommodate special needs students or may require certain testing or grades to be able to enroll. Some public school students, including those who are lower income – without transportation, for example - cannot simply switch to a private school if given a voucher. To those who say parents should be granted resources to put their children in better-performing private schools, Clark says, 'My argument is we can make all of those (good) things happen at public schools, and we should, because we already have money in public schools.' She worries that public schools will lose per-pupil funding as kids leave, even as parents like her already donate buckets of classroom tissues and pencils at the start of every school year. 'We have struggled to find bus drivers,' Clark said. 'Last year… we had busses doing two runs, and some of those kids would get to school an hour and a half, two hours late.' But Schultz, the school choice advocate, said that 'funneling more dollars into public schools in America does not equal improvement or make public schools the right fit for every kid.' The proposed ECCA would allow families making as much as 300% of area median income to receive scholarships. For Daviess County, that means a family of four making under $195,969 per year could still be eligible to receive scholarships for private school, using the US Census Bureau's estimates for 2019-2023. For Los Angeles County, a four-person household making under $263,280 would still be eligible. In the wealthiest county in the US, Loudoun County, Virginia, a family of four making under $536,121 could be eligible to receive scholarships for their children. The ECCA does not limit how much an SGO can give a family in scholarships. In some Democratic-leaning states like California, voters have already rejected the idea of voucher programs. If a nationwide program were to exist, it would be the first opportunity for parents in states like California to use vouchers to send children to private schools. The ECCA's donation process also benefits donors. Typically, someone who donates to a food bank or pet rescue would receive no more than 35 cents in tax savings for each dollar donated, according to ITEP. But someone who donates to private voucher groups would receive a full reimbursement for the donation, dollar for dollar. And stock donations could open up a way for wealthy donors to avoid paying capital gains taxes. ITEP estimates the bill would reduce federal tax revenue by $23.2 billion and state income taxes by $459 million over the next 10 years as currently drafted. 'There's a danger that politicians will increasingly pick and choose which kinds of donations get the best tax breaks and if your values don't align with theirs, well then you're out of luck,' ITEP's Davis wrote to CNN. Public school systems may also lose money, depending on how many students leave the district. Dr. Darin Brawley, superintendent of Compton Unified School District, said his district has already seen a 4% annual decline in enrollment as people leave the state, shrinking his budget by about $8 million per year. 'From the initial look at our enrollment trends for next year, we're already significantly behind,' Brawley said. If more students leave, Brawley worries about an 8% decline, which would result in the loss of $21.12 million and therefore layoffs, hiring freezes and bigger class sizes.
