Legislation Introduced to Restore EITC Funding
for School Aid 

Parents, parishioners urged to contact representatives
 

Two legislative bills have been introduced to restore funding for Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program to $75 million. Established in 2001, EITC is an educational program that gives children the chance to attend the best school available to them and provides enhanced opportunities in the public schools.

The EITC program is the Diocese of Scranton Scholarship Foundation’s primary source of funding. Businesses make contributions to the foundation and then can apply for state tax credits. The contributions enable the Diocese to provide tuition assistance to students in Catholic schools.

Through this scholarship program and others, the Diocese was able to offer more than 1,000 families over $1.3 million in financial assistance during the last school year.

Unfortunately, the 2009-2010 state budget cuts heavily impacted the amount of scholarship money that is available to students through the EITC program. This year, the EITC program is targeted for an additional $10 million cut on top of last year’s $15 million reduction.

To remedy this situation, Speaker of the House Keith McCall, D-Carbon, has introduced House Bill 2508 with 109 co-sponsors. His bill has been referred to the Finance Committee. Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin, introduced Senate Bill 1370 with 27 co-sponsors. Both bills would restore the EITC funds to $75 million for 2010-2011.

“Funding cuts to the EITC Program affect Pennsylvania families directly. Last year, it’s estimated that approximately 6,000 scholarships were lost due to the $15 million cut – and if the program is cut again, the effects will be even more devastating,” said William J. Donahue, chairman of the REACH Alliance, Pennsylvania’s grassroots coalition for school choice. “We strongly applaud Speaker McCall and Senator Piccola’s efforts to restore funding for this educational program and help Pennsylvania’s families.”

Many in the Legislature have called the EITC Program the best educational initiative passed in Pennsylvania in the past 15 years. Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 3,600 companies have pledged nearly $490 million to EITC organizations.

The program benefits both public and private schools in Pennsylvania, and actually saves the state money – each student attending private schools saves the state approximately $12,000 per student in education costs. If all 44,000 students receiving EITC scholarships would re-enter the public school system, it would cost Pennsylvania taxpayers an additional $531.6 million per year. The EITC Program has received bipartisan support since its inception.

Contact Legislators To Restore EITC Funding

Parents, parishioners and any concerned citizens are asked to support the effort to restore EITC funding by visiting the website: www.operationrestorepa.org  to urge their state representatives and senators to support House Bill 2508 and Senate Bill 1370. There are sample letters available and online tools to send an electronic fax to your representative, which only requires an email address and a mailing address.

Information is also available by contacting the Diocese of Scranton’s Scholarship Office at 570-207-2250.

For more information about the REACH Alliance and Foundation, visit www.paschoolchoice.org