The tax bills in the U.S. House and Senate have curious twists. According to the Alliance to Reclaim our Schools, 529 college savings accounts could be used for K12 private school tuition. Send your child to private school and get a tax break.
The U.S. Senate’s tax plan allows a tax deduction as a charitable contribution for private school tuition. A second provision creates tax credits for corporate and individual contributions to state non profits that offer tuition payments for low and middle income families.
The drive to get something passed in Congress, anything really, has resulted in a hodge podge of special interests that are certainly not in the public interest.
The tax bill that passed in the House yesterday has some of the deplorable aspects of Florida’s K-12 HB 7069, signed into law. Each one passed with out any conference committee analysis of the legislation, and both were involved in logrolled type legislation.
Logrolling is defined as the practice of including multiple unrelated items in the legislative bills. The Florida constitution forbids it stating “Every law shall embrace but one subject and matter properly connected therewith, and the subject shall be briefly expressed in the title”. And now nine school districts- Alachua, Bay, Broward, Hamilton, Lee, St Lucie, Volusia and Wakulla are asking the state Supreme Court to halt HB 7069.
I wonder how the US Senate will regard the constitutionality of the House Tax Bill?