SB746 Summary: Parental Choice Pilot Program

• Establishes a four-year pilot program (2018-2019 through 2021-2022) allowing eligible students to use education savings accounts funded by tax-credit donations to pay for nonpublic school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, assessments, and other education-related expenses.

• Creates a certification process for up to five (5) eligible nonprofit organizations to administer education savings accounts, with Department of Finance and Administration oversight and annual financial audits required.

• Provides a 65% state income tax credit for taxpayer and corporate contributions to certified nonprofit organizations, capped at $3 million annually across fiscal years 2019-2021, with contributions certified on a first-come, first-served basis between March 1 and April 15.

• Prioritizes funding for students who previously received accounts, siblings of account holders, students eligible for free/reduced lunch, dependents of deployed military members, and other eligible students, while requiring at least a 2-to-1 ratio of public school students to nonpublic school students for new accounts.

• Restricts account use to students aged K-12 with limits of one percent (1%) maximum from any public school district per year, prohibits donors from designating beneficiaries or specific expenses, and requires parents to waive state and school district obligations except as required by federal law.