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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 24 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USHouse advances scholarship credit bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House has voted 98-69 this afternoon to approve legislation that changes how the state’s new tuition tax credit program works.
But the vote potentially sets up a showdown between Rules Committee Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), the sponsor of HB 100, and Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has his own bill making more substantive changes to the program.
HB 100 would make it easier for small businesses to take advantage of the tax credit program, which gives credits against income taxes for individuals and corporations who contribute cash to organizations that give scholarships for students to attend private school.
Ehrhart, who sponsored the bill last year creating the program, also would streamline the process for scholarship organizations to form and for donors to get approval for the tax credit.
The state has capped at $50 million the total amount of tax credits available.
Perdue’s bill, which is being sponsored by his floor leader, Rep. Jim Cole (R-Forsyth), makes major changes to the program, including limiting eligibility to students who qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch. It would also cap the total value of the scholarships available.
Cole’s bill has yet to be taken up in committee. But opponents of HB 100, including many Democrats, urged their colleagues to defeat Ehrhart’s bill in favor of Cole’s.
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