Committee advances SB 87 after debate over eligibility, caps and reporting for scholarship tax credits

Senate Bill 87, a bill to amend provisions of the tax credit for low-income student scholarship programs, was debated at length in the Kansas Senate Education Committee before the committee passed the bill out favorably as amended.

Revisor Tamara Lawrence summarized the bill’s principal changes: it would expand student eligibility, require a period for the State Board of Education to verify student eligibility to scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs), increase certain tax-credit amounts and raise aggregate tax-credit limits under specified conditions. On an amendment by Senator Thomas (explained by Lawrence), the committee considered increasing the annual allowable credits from $10 million to $15 million and raising the aggregate credit trigger from $20 million to $25 million beginning in tax years after 2025. Lawrence said: “This would increase that to $15,000,000. Additionally, the bill would provide that aggregate credit limit of $20,000,000 This would raise that to $25,000,000 and that would begin, starting in tax years commencing after 2025.”

A proposal from Senator Sykes to add reporting requirements failed on a division vote. Sykes described the amendment as adding statutory reporting so the legislature could see whether SGOs were meeting the existing requirement that they disperse at least 90% of contributions within 36 months. She said past reports showed SGOs were not always meeting that standard and argued the legislature needed per-organization data on amounts contributed, amounts expended, numbers of applicants determined eligible, and counts of at-risk students served. The motion to adopt Sykes’s reporting amendment was seconded by Senator Gossage and the motion failed 4–5 after a division vote.

Committee members also discussed discrepancies between reports from the State Department of Education (KSDE) and the Department of Revenue. Senator Sykes cited a report showing contributions of about $7.8 million in 2024 with $5.5 million expended; Revisor Lawrence said there is “a discrepancy between the Kansas State Department of Education report and the Department of Revenue report,” and that the Department of Revenue numbers showing $8.3 million are considered the official figures while the agencies work to reconcile differences.

Members debated eligibility criteria. The bill keeps a pathway tied to 250 percent of the federal poverty level for some students but would add additional eligibility categories (for example, children of emergency medical service providers, firefighters or law-enforcement officers) to the statute; Lawrence clarified that the poverty-level qualification would not apply to those enumerated categories. Lawmakers also discussed the statutory definition of “at risk” (cited by the reviser as both the free/reduced lunch definition for finance purposes and the broader KSA 72-51-53a list of criteria). Research staff provided context on income thresholds for free and reduced-price lunch.

Committee members voiced differing policy views. Supporters, including Senator Gossage and Senator Thomas, argued the program helps low-income students who may need alternatives to public school settings. Opponents, including Senator Sykes and Senator Petty, raised concerns that the program has expanded beyond its original intent, questioned accountability and warned of budgetary impacts on the State General Fund.

The committee approved a technical amendment from the reviser to strike extraneous phrasing from the bill title and ultimately voted to pass SB 87 out of committee as amended. Senator Thomas moved passage; Senator Rose seconded. Senator Sykes and several other senators recorded votes of no on the final motion. The transcript records the failed reporting amendment’s final division result as “Motion fails 4 to 5.”