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Senate committee amendment raises income thresholds in education savings account bill; sponsor and colleagues debate fiscal estimate
Summary
Senators approved an amendment to the educational savings account bill to raise qualifying income thresholds and heard floor discussion of a fiscal estimate that would put the program’s cost near $270 million.
The Senate approved a committee amendment to Senate Bill 2,400 that raises household income thresholds used to determine eligibility for proposed educational savings accounts.
Senator Axman, the bill carrier, told the chamber the committee amended percentage thresholds on page 4 to increase eligibility markers from roughly 200% of federal poverty guidelines to both 300% and 500% thresholds for different tiers. The committee voted to recommend the amendment and asked the Senate to concur.
Senator Wambam said he prepared a fiscal note-like estimate for colleagues in the absence of an official fiscal note. Using an assumed 20,000 students and the same methodology cited in a related bill, Wambam said the total estimated cost would be about $270,000,000 and that approximately 14.6% of that would be designated for nonpublic schools, with the remainder flowing back to public schools.
“Just in the interest of transparency and making sure everybody’s aware of what's going on, this total fiscal note comes to a number of $270,000,000 of which only 14.6 of it is actually designated for non public schools,” Wambam said on the floor.
Senator Axman clarified that changes under the amendment would take effect in the second year of the biennium, and that the fiscal estimate would be slightly adjusted to reflect the amendment’s changed eligibility counts.
The amendment was adopted on voice vote; the bill remains subject to further consideration on the calendar.
