Committee recommends ITL on bill creating preschool tax exemption after debate over school building aid

Senator Roosevelt offered an amendment to Senate Bill 275 that would limit a proposed property tax exemption for preschool and childcare providers to registered nonprofit 501(c)(3) agencies in good standing, and the committee then moved to recommend ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate) on the bill.

The amendment narrowed the original bill’s exemption language, which Senator Roosevelt said would otherwise have applied “to for profit childcare centers and also home based childcare centers where the family is living in the house most of the time.” She told the committee the amendment “only would apply to not for profit child care agencies that are 5 0 1 c threes, not any other kind of 5 0 1 c. And they have to be registered and in good standing with the state.”

Committee members debated a separate provision in Section 3 that would extend school building aid to include preschool space. One lawmaker noted the state’s school building aid is a finite annual pool and said expanding eligibility “to include preschool, I think just would dilute the process.” Another member described many public preschools as public–private partnerships that use unused school space rather than requiring new construction.

After discussion, Senator Murphy moved that the committee recommend ITL on Senate Bill 275; Senator Sullivan seconded the motion. The committee called the question; the chair announced, “3 2, the motion of ITL passes.”

The transcript records both the amendment restricting the tax exemption to registered 501(c)(3)s and the committee’s concern about widening school building aid eligibility. The record does not show the bill advancing for further floor action from this committee.

The committee subsequently moved a consent action related to other business before adjourning.