Private school tax credit bill defeated in close vote in Idaho House committee

Originally published on IdahoEdNews.org on March 12, 2024.

Another major school choice bill has failed in the Idaho Legislature. 

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee narrowly rejected House Bill 447, which would have created a $50 million tax credit and grant program to subsidize private school tuition. The split vote marked the latest chapter in Idaho’s debate over school choice, a loose heading of proposals directing taxpayer funds to private education in the form of tax credits, education savings accounts or school vouchers.

A bipartisan group defeated the bill after an emotional hearing, which unfolded in a meeting room packed with school choice supporters.

Opponents feared the tax credit’s costs would balloon, as has happened in other states, and that the taxpayer funds wouldn’t be accountable in private schooling. Spending $50 million on top of House Bill 521’s income tax cut and $1 billion appropriation to public schools “is not being fiscally responsible,” said Rep. Jon Weber, R-Rexburg. 

Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, and Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, sponsored the latest school choice proposal, after years of failed attempts to pass a voucher or education savings account program.

“The reason I was talked into running for office in the first place is I care about the education of every single child no matter where they learn,” Horman said. 

House Bill 447 would have allowed private school families of any income to claim $5,000 tax credits for tuition, fees, transportation, tutoring and other expenses. Families with a learning-disabled student could have claimed an additional $2,500. 

Another $10 million would have been set aside for a “kickstart” program benefiting low-income families. The tax credits and grants — distributed on a first-come, first-served basis — would have been capped at $50 million annually, although a provision in the bill set a date to reevaluate the cap based on demand. 

One vote made the difference on a motion to send the bill to the House floor — it failed 8-9. Seven Republicans broke ranks with House majority leadership to oppose the bill. 

The vote followed a lengthy, tense hearing. Lobbyists for national school choice advocacy groups, like EdChoice and the American Federation for Children, pushed the committee to support the bill.

Several private school parents also urged lawmakers to approve it. 

“Sometimes there’s a mentality that only rich people send their kids to private school, but I can certainly testify before you that I am not part of that stereotype,” said Matt Crane, a father of four children enrolled in Nampa Christian Schools. “I’m already paying taxes that the public school benefits from that I don’t receive any reciprocal benefit from.”

The Catholic Diocese of Boise also lobbied in favor of the bill. Tammy Emerich, superintendent of Catholic schools in Boise, said diocese students score higher than public school students on standardized tests, and the diocese holds schools accountable to those scores.

Rep. Kenny Wroten, R-Nampa, who opposed the bill, asked Emerich to address a recent diocese newsletter that touted the bill for keeping private schools untangled from state mandates, with “no strings attached.”

“The way House Bill 447 is written is there are no strings attached,” Emerich said. “What I was trying to convey to all of you is that we do have accountability in our schools, and we do make sure that our students are learning and growing.”

Wroten argued the program would force taxpayers in rural areas, where private schools are scarce, to subsidize private education in urban areas, where private schools are concentrated. “We already have nationally recognized school choice,” he said. “This, to me, just seems like it will be the camel’s nose under the tent.”

Groups representing public school trustees, administrators and unionized teachers strongly opposed House Bill 447. “The lack of accountability prevents taxpayers from having any insight or assurance that their tax dollars are actually being used to provide a quality education to Idaho kids,” said Chris Parri, political director for the Idaho Education Association. 

Idaho has roughly 15,000 private school students. The Mountain States Policy Center, a think tank that lobbied for House Bill 447, estimated the program would have benefited roughly 8,000 students.