Jan. 17, 2018
ROYERSFORD – State Rep. Michael Corr (R-Montgomery) and state Rep. Tom Quigley (R-Montgomery) today visited Pope John Paul II High School in Royersford, where they and Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) highlighted the benefits enjoyed by students, parents, local businesses and schools that have used two popular education tax credit programs.
“These educational tax credit programs empower students to attend the schools they believe will best meet their needs and prepare them for a lifetime of success,” Corr said. “For some students, the right school can mean the difference between academic struggles and educational excellence. These programs provide parents and students with options they may not otherwise be able to pursue due to financial constraints.”
“Educational tax credit programs align the interests of students, parents, local businesses and schools so they’re all working toward the shared goal of academic achievement,” Quigley said. “These programs provide students and parents with choices, businesses with incentives to invest in our education system, and both public and private schools with the financial resources they need to properly educate our children.”
The legislators highlighted the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program.
The EITC program provides businesses with tax credits in exchange for voluntary contributions to organizations that fund various education opportunities – including scholarships and innovative programming – in both public and private schools.
The OSTC program provides businesses with tax credits in exchange for their contributions to organizations that provide scholarships to students who live within the attendance boundary of a low-achieving public school. The scholarships enable students to attend a participating public or nonpublic school that better meets their needs.
The legislators fought for and secured a $10 million increase in EITC allocations in the current state budget, increasing the amount of tax credits available through the program from $125 million to $135 million.
Up to $50 million in tax credits are available through the OSTC program.
“The use of tax credits to provide students and parents with enhanced educational opportunities is truly innovative,” Corr said. “The state uses traditional tax revenues to fund the traditional public school system, while these tax credit programs provide an incentive for local businesses to further invest in the education of their future workers. These tax credit programs are a way to get the business community directly involved in financing the educational opportunities of the workforce of tomorrow.”
The state House in March approved legislation –
House Bill 250 – introduced by Turzai that would increase the amount of combined credits available through the EITC and OSTC programs to $250 million. Under Turzai’s bill, $175 million in tax credits would be available through the EITC program and $75 million would be available through the OSTC program.
“Families who want educational opportunities – to attend non-public schools or to participate in afterschool educational enhancement activities – but cannot afford them have found the educational improvement and opportunity scholarships to be positively life-changing,” said Turzai. “House Bill 250 moves us in the right direction to fulfill our commitment to offer families educational opportunities that best suit their children’s needs.”
The bill was referred to and remains in the Senate Education Committee awaiting consideration.
Rep. Michael Corr
150th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Daniel Massing
717.772.9845
dmassing@pahousegop.com
RepCorr.com /
Facebook.com/RepCorr