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Senate amends Parental Choice Tax Credit to allow outside scholarships, passes bill
Summary
The Senate Education Committee amended and passed Senate Bill 472 to clarify that students may accept outside scholarships, including the Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarship, without losing eligibility for the parental choice tax credit.
Senator Bergstrom presented Senate Bill 472 to the Senate Education Committee, saying the bill “amends the Parental Choice Tax Credit Act to allow eligible students to accept all scholarships as well.” The senator said he was prompted by a constituent whose family lost the tax credit after the student accepted a $4,000 Fields of Honor scholarship tied to military service.
The bill’s sponsor offered an amendment to restore previously stricken language and to change “a scholarship” to “any scholarship,” specifying that the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with Disabilities be included. Senator Bergstrom said the amendment “restores stricken language, removes language that's been added … and changes the ‘a’ on line 18 to ‘any,’ making it clear that the Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarship is one of the scholarships that can be accepted.”
Committee members asked whether the change could allow families to receive multiple sources of private funding plus the parental tax credit and whether the tax credit should operate as last-dollar (paid after other scholarships) rather than first-dollar. Senator Bergstrom said he would consider amendments to treat the tax credit as last-dollar and noted the bill was intended to address the specific family’s problem.
After adopting the amendment, the committee voted on the bill as amended. The clerk recorded 8 ayes and 3 nays; the chair declared Senate Bill 472 passed.
The committee record shows the primary intent is to prevent families from losing the parental choice tax credit when they also receive outside scholarships. No fiscal impact was reported to the committee during the hearing.
Members who pressed for further clarity asked for a future amendment or drafting change to specify whether the tax credit should be applied before or after outside scholarships. The sponsor indicated willingness to work with the chair and other members on that point before further action in the full legislature.
