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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 12, 2022 12:32 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Michele Brooks |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Equitable Distribution of EITC Dollars by Region |
| In the near future, I plan to reintroduce Senate Bill 899 of last session, to ensure that tax credits awarded to businesses under the Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program are distributed fairly to all regions of the state, in order to provide scholarship funding for Pennsylvania students across the state. Previous cosponsors of this legislation included Senators Stefano and J. Ward. As required by relevant sections of the Public School Code of 1949, the Department of Revenue submits an annual report to the General Assembly of the scholarship organizations, pre-K scholarship organizations, educational improvement organizations, and opportunity scholarship organizations receiving contributions from business firms granted a tax credit under Article XX-B during the fiscal year. The Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs allow corporations to devote their state taxes to private and parochial schools or organizations to fund scholarships and tuition. DCED administers the program. Every year, tens of thousands of students are denied scholarships because of program limits. According to DCED officials, EITC funds have been fully exhausted every year since 2009. OSTC funds have been fully exhausted every year since 2014. My legislation will ensure that business tax credits are distributed equitably to each region of the Commonwealth: the northcentral, northeast, northwest, southcentral, southeast and southwest regions. This legislation does not expand the dollar amounts available for EITC and OSTC, but would ensure that businesses throughout the state receive tax credit opportunities. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation. Thank you. |
Introduced as SB661