Maryland – House Panel Kills School Tax Credit Bill

Maryland – A House panel has voted to kill legislation designed to help private schools keep their doors open.

A House Ways and Means subcommittee voted late Monday to kill a bill to create tax credits for companies that provide scholarship donations to private schools.

House panel members said they were concerned about the state helping schools that discriminate in their hiring and admissions processes. They also said they worried about constitutional issues arising from the state providing either tax credits or direct grants to aid religious education.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley endorsed and the Maryland Senate had approved a version of the legislation.

Catholic and Jewish organization leaders backed the measure, saying private schools save the state $1.5 billion a year in education costs.

Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, director of Agudath Israel of Maryland stated: “In yet another unfortunate end to the 90 days of nonstop legislative efforts on the part of the dedicated members of the BOAST Coalition, the leadership of the House of Delegates and Ways and Means Committee decided that stemming the tide of private school closures and the influx of students into the overburdened public schools as its direct result – is not a legitimate concern of theirs”.

Sadwin added, “the lawmakers additionally fail to acknowledge the good of the taxpayer who sees no return on his investment by educating his/her child in private schools.”