The number of states providing parents and students with the option for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), education choice tax credits, or an education tax scholarship has now grown to 29. Several states are also in the process of expanding their existing education choice programs to cover even more students. Here is the current map of the 29 states with these education choice options:
18 states with ESAs: Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, and New Hampshire.
4 states with education choice tax credits: Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
7 states with education tax scholarships: Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
1 state pending: Kentucky (education choice constitutional amendment passed legislature; pending voter approval)
Texas may be the next in line to join these states according to a recent statement by Governor Abbott. Although a proposed education choice tax credit did not clear committee in the Idaho House this year, Speaker Moyle has proposed a new bill that could receive a vote soon. According to Idaho Education News:
“A new bill, very similar to legislation that a House committee recently rejected, would allow the full House to vote on private school tax credits less than two months before the primary election.
‘School choice’ — a catchall term describing proposals directing taxpayer funds to private education in the form of tax credits, education savings accounts or school vouchers — likely will feature prominently in May’s GOP primary election. But many lawmakers haven’t had an opportunity to stake out their position.
That’s because previous bills have failed to clear committee. Earlier this month, the House Revenue and Taxation Committee narrowly rejected the most recent proposal, House Bill 447. A new bill from Moyle similarly would create a refundable tax credit for private school tuition but expand the program cap from $50 million to $70 million — $60 million would cover tax credits and $10 million would go toward grants for low-income families.
Moyle said the bill ‘probably is not going to go anywhere,’ but House members want to vote on a school choice measure. ‘It’s an issue that’s not going to go away and I want it resolved,’ Moyle said. ‘I want to make it clear that I support school choice'"
With Wyoming's approval of a new Education Savings Accounts law this year, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California are now the only states in the West not providing either an ESA, education choice tax credit, or education tax scholarship option for families.