House committee advances Senate Bill 87 after amendments on eligibility and credit caps

The House Committee on Education voted to pass Senate Bill 87, as amended, after debate over eligibility for scholarships tied to a low‑income scholarship tax‑credit program and how the program’s tax credits operate.

The committee’s action followed two floor amendments and extended questioning of the bill’s tax effects. The committee adopted an amendment that linked eligibility language for children of certain public safety personnel to existing state law definitions of injury, disability and public safety officer, then later approved a technical amendment to narrow which public‑safety parents would qualify unless they had died or been injured or disabled while performing their duties. The committee then voted to pass the bill as amended.

Why it matters: Senate Bill 87 would change how a state tax‑credit scholarship program defines eligible students and would increase the cap on tax credits available under the program. Committee members raised concerns about accountability, whether the program targets low‑income students and how the credits interact with other tax rules.

The bill’s sponsor and committee members spent much of the discussion on technical tax questions and program design. Jason (Revisor) told the committee that the bill allows a credit “against the tax liability imposed upon a taxpayer pursuant to a Kansas…