One Maine Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill that would create a refundable tax credit designed to help fund private education for eligible students.
Sponsored by Rep. Gregory Lewis Swallow (R-Houlton), this bill would effectively reframe the state’s responsibility to include not just public schools, but the education of all eligible individuals within a school district.
Under LD 1853, Maine law would affirm that the state government has a responsibility to support and maintain public schools, as well as the “education of every person within the age limitations prescribed by state statutes who resides in the school administrative unit.”
To accomplish this, the bill would establish the Educational Tax Credit Program to provide a refundable credit to parents of eligible children enrolled in nonpublic schools.
The value of this credit would be based on the amount parents paid in tuition and fees during a given year with a maximum amount equal to 70 percent of the average per pupil cost of education in the state.
According to Ballotpedia, Maine’s average per pupil cost of education in fiscal year 2020 was $14,892. Based on this figure, the maximum amount of this tax credit would be about $10,424.
As with any refundable tax credit, this figure would first be applied to a parent or guardian’s tax liability, while the remainder would be sent back to the taxpayer as a refund.
If approved, this credit would become available beginning on January 1, 2026.
Access to this credit would be delayed for students currently enrolled in nonpublic schools until the 2027-2028 school year.
A public hearing for LD 1853 has been scheduled for Friday, May 16 at 1pm in State House Room 127.
Written may also be submitted online at www.mainelegislature.org/testimony. Mainers may also use this link to sign up to offer virtual testimony via Zoom.
Click Here for More Information on LD 1853
This, however, is not the only bill currently under consideration in Augusta this year that aims to make it easier and more affordable for parents to send their children to nonpublic schools.
LD 220, sponsored by Sen. Jim Libby (R-Cumberland) and a number of other Republican legislators looks to create “hope accounts” for Maine students who either are home-schooled or attend a private school.
These hope accounts would allow parents who do not send their children to public school to use a portion of funds that would otherwise have gone to their local school districts for alternative education-related expenses, such as home-schooling materials or private school tuition.
The Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program — proposed by a group of Maine Republican lawmakers — is similar to other education savings account (ESA) programs that have already been implemented in seventeen states nationwide.
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Under this bill, parents of children who are home-schooled or attending private school would be eligible to access 90 percent of the state and local funding that would otherwise go toward their local public school district.
These funds would be placed in a hope account to be used for a number of qualified expenses as specified in the legislation.
Among the expenses that could be made using these hope accounts are private school tuition, uniforms, tutoring services, home schooling materials, and standardized testing fees, as well as “basic educational supplies.”
Spending from these accounts would be monitored and reviewed by members of the board governing the program.
Should it be determined that a student’s parents misused the funds, the hope account would be closed, and the remaining balance would be transferred to the state’s General Fund.
Members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee were divided along partisan lines over this bill, with all Republicans expressing support for the proposal and all Democrats opposing it.
Consequently, lawmakers may choose to debate this proposal on the chamber floor before potentially engaging in a roll call vote.
