Senate advances tuition tax‑credit bill after hours of debate over oversight and fiscal impact

Salt Lake City — The Utah Senate moved the second substitute of Senate Bill 34, a tuition tax‑credit measure that would give parents tax credits to help pay private school tuition, forward to third reading after a contentious floor debate focused on oversight, eligibility and the bill's fiscal effects.

Senator Butters, sponsor of the measure, told the Senate the bill would expand "the fiscal ability" of parents to choose schools for children who are struggling in public schools and said low‑income and Hispanic families motivated committee support. "Today, we can really do something to help these children and their parents and the entire system," he said in opening remarks.

Opponents pressed detailed questions about who would qualify for credits, what standards private schools must meet and how the state would prevent abuses such as…