Committee amends homeschool tax credit to $1,000 per child; gives bill a due-pass recommendation

The Finance and Taxation committee on an unspecified date amended House Bill 1244 to reduce a proposed homeschooling income tax credit from $10,000 per qualifying child to $1,000 and voted to give the bill a due-pass recommendation as amended.

The amendment to House Bill 1244 was offered as a motion by Representative Doctor and seconded by Representative Steiner. Committee discussion centered on who would benefit from the credit and whether the credit would primarily help higher-income households or meaningfully aid lower- and middle-income families.

"I think all families, regardless of their income, are important to us," Representative Steiner said during debate, arguing that some higher-income households would also benefit from a credit. Representative Dressler pushed back, noting that because the credit is per child it could accumulate for families with multiple children and said, "you're looking at giving a potential income tax break to really just the, you know, the upper end of the income ranges in our state for sure." Representative Greenheck described homeschooling and private schooling as choices and said she would resist the bill in its current form.

Chairman Hedlund explained the bill's original limits, saying, "The amount of the credit under this section, under subsection 2 is limited to $10,000 per qualifying child, taxable year. The 5,000 was in regard to if you are a married couple that files separately. It was gonna be 5,000 apiece." Under the amendment adopted on the floor, the committee reduced that $10,000 per-child limit to $1,000 and adjusted the separate-filers amount to $500 per child as part of the motion.

Representative Olson, a homeschooling parent, said the credit would not change her personal schooling choice: "As a homeschooling parent, this isn't gonna make the difference between me homeschooling or sending my kids to public school." Representative Doctor moved that the committee give House Bill 1244 a due-pass recommendation as amended; Representative Porter seconded that motion.

The clerk announced the committee voted to give House Bill 1244 a due-pass recommendation as amended by a 7-4 margin. The bill now moves forward in the legislative process; the committee did not specify the next committee or floor schedule on the record.

Ending: The committee discussion also referenced other pending bills with similar aims to provide education-related tax relief; members said those measures may be reconciled or amended later in the session.