Bill No. LB670
Bill ID
1168718
State
NE
Title
Adopt the Opportunity Scholarships Act and provide tax credits
Description
This bill includes the following provisions: (1) legislature finds that for parents/legal guardians who pay taxes in support of public schools, choosing private schools for their children can be a financial burden because they will be paying twice for education through tuition and taxes and making it possible for them to be able to choose private schools reduces publicly funded educational costs and benefits NE taxpayers, and it is in the best interests of the state and its citizens to encourage individuals and businesses to support organizations that financially assist parents/legal guardians who want to enroll their children, which can be accomplished through tax credits; (2) defines an education scholarship as a financial grant-in-aid to be used to pay tuition and fees for attending a qualified school; (3) defines eligible student as a NE resident (i) from a household with a gross income not exceeding two times the income indicated in the income eligibility guidelines for reduced price meals, and (ii) is receiving an education scholarship for the first time and is either entering kindergarten or ninth grade in a qualified school or transferring from a public school at which the student was enrolled at least one semester before receiving a scholarship and is entering kindergarten through twelve, or has previously received a scholarship and is continuing education at a qualified school until he/she either graduates from high school or reaches 21, whichever comes first, or is the sibling of and resides in the same household as a student who is receiving a scholarship; (4) defines qualified school as a nongovernmental, private NE school that is operated not for profit, complies with the antidiscrimination provisions of 42 U.S.C. 1981 as it existed on 1/1/19, complies with all health and life safety laws or codes that apply to private schools, and fulfills the applicable accreditation or approval requirements established by the State Board of Education; (5) an individual taxpayer who makes one or more cash contributions to one or more scholarship-granting organizations during a tax year shall be eligible for a credit against the income tax due under the Nebraska Revenue Act of 1967; (6) the taxpayer may not designate all or any part of the contribution to a scholarship-granting organization for the benefit of any eligible student specifically identified by the taxpayer; and (7) this Act shall not be construed as granting any expanded or additional authority to the State of Nebraska to control or influence the governance or policies of any qualified school due to the fact that the school admits and enrolls students who receive education scholarships or as requiring any such school to admit or, once admitted, to continue the enrollment of any student receiving a scholarship.
Bill Type
Bill
Category
Tax Credit Vouchers
Session
106th Legislature
Special Session
No Data Available
Current Status
Introduced
Status Last Updated
2019-01-23
Pending Committee
Calendar
Sponsors
Texts
Votes
No data available
Amendments
No data available
Supplements
No data available