Two student scholarship options before lawmakers
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Dave Williams Staff Writer
The Georgia House Tuesday passed legislation aimed at encouraging more individuals and businesses to contribute to a taxpayer-funded private-school scholarships program.
But the bill, sponsored by influential House Rules Committee Chairman Earl Ehrhart, faces competition from an alternative introduced in the House on behalf of another powerful Republican politician: Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Ehrhart’s legislation would revise the $50 million scholarships program the General Assembly created last year by providing the same tax credit for both businesses and individuals who donate to non-profit student scholarship organizations.
Last year’s law had the unforeseen consequence of treating many small businesses the same as individual donors for tax purposes, Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, told his colleagues Tuesday. That gave small businesses a smaller tax credit than larger companies, discouraging them from contributing to the program, he said.
“We made it unattractive for small businesses,” he said.
Democrats who spoke out against the bill Tuesday, however, attacked the underlying concept behind the program rather than the changes Ehrhart was seeking.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, said the state simply can’t afford to spend $50 million on tax credits to help children attend private schools during a recession that is forcing lawmakers to consider eliminating school nurses and doing away with stipends for nationally certified teachers.
Porter and other Democrats suggested that the House consider a bill introduced by Rep. Jim Cole, R-Forsyth, on behalf of Perdue. It would limit eligibility for the program to low-income students and cap scholarships at $3,500.
“The purpose of the (program) was to help underpriviledged children,” Cole said. “We don’t want this to be a scholarship for a family in Buckhead that can afford private school tuition.”
Ehrhart’s bill passed 98-69 and now moves to the Senate. Cole’s bill is pending in the House Ways and Means Committee.
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