Senators adopt amendment to keep income limit, add one-year grace and bar double-dipping for tax-credit scholarship

Senators approved amendment 0642s to a tax-credit scholarship measure, preserving a 300%‑of‑poverty eligibility limit, increasing the share of awards reserved for students on free and reduced-price lunch from 40% to 50%, adding a one‑year grace for returning recipients, and clarifying that families may not receive both an Education Freedom Account (EFA) award and a tax‑credit scholarship.

The amendment was offered as part of debate on the scholarship program’s statutory language and was adopted by voice vote. “I worked with the prime sponsor on this. His goal for this bill was to increase the number of low to moderate income students who had access to the tax credit,” Senator Rosenwald said during floor discussion. Rosenwald said the amendment “keeps the 300% of poverty,” raises the share for students on free and reduced lunch, and “clarifies in state law that you can get one or the other, but not both any FA and a tax credit.”

Why it matters: proponents said the changes keep the program targeted to lower‑income families while addressing concerns that removing income limits without expanding funding would let higher‑income students take slots now intended for needier students. The tax‑credit program remains capped at $6,000,000 in state credits and was described in debate as serving roughly 1,250 students under current funding levels.

During discussion, supporters framed the amendment as preserving the bill author’s goal of expanding access for needy students without enlarging the program’s dollar cap. “Doesn't expand the tax credit. It's still a cap of $6,000,000… but it will extend it to more needy students,” Rosenwald said. Opponents and some colleagues raised procedural and policy questions about annual means testing and continuity for students; one senator worried that families should not have to face annual eligibility uncertainty.

The amendment also addressed testimony from a prior public hearing about families “falling off the cliff” if a parent’s income increased slightly from one year to the next. Under the adopted language, a student who has received the tax‑credit scholarship would be eligible for an additional year regardless of a small year‑to‑year income increase and would still be able to reapply thereafter.

No roll‑call vote was recorded; the amendment was adopted by voice vote with no recorded opposition. The committee then moved the bill forward as amended.

Ending: The debate combined policy goals—targeting aid to lower‑income students—and pragmatic limits—the unchanged $6,000,000 tax‑credit cap—while adding a short continuity measure for existing recipients. Further changes to the underlying program and related EFA rules were discussed later in the session during consideration of Senate Bill 295.