Minn. bill would let low-income families get up to half of K–12 education tax credit up front and end assignment program

Representative (bill author and committee chair) introduced House File 779 in committee on reports of fraud tied to third‑party tutoring providers and asked the panel to lay the bill over for further work and a fiscal note. The measure would let qualifying lower‑income families request an advance of up to half of their eligible K–12 education tax credit and would end the current credit‑assignment program; the bill also directs study of delivering the credit via an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card rather than through third parties.

The proposal responds to reporting by Sahan Journal and the Minnesota Reformer documenting schemes in which families were recruited into tutoring programs that provided substandard instruction while third‑party organizations collected tax‑credit payments. “Cut the middleman out,…