New Hope in Georgia

What should a state do when a tax credit program is so popular that its cap is met on the first day of the application period and the requests are for nearly double the amount of that cap? That is exactly what has happened for the last several years with Georgia’s scholarship tax credit program and advocates are hopeful that the cap can be raised this session.

House Bill 217, which includes a proposal to raise the cap from $58 million to $150 million, had its first hearing this week. The tax credit program has provided millions of scholarship dollars to students in Jewish, and other private schools since 2008.

A separate plan that would create a universal Education Savings Account program will be heard on Wednesday. The proposal would provide every student the amount of state funding earmarked for their use, if they choose to opt out of a public school education. Senate Bill 68 is expected to have its first hearing in the Senate Education Committee next week.