A Minnesota House of Representatives bill that aims to give tax credits to help cover private school tuition received emotional opposition and support during a hearing Thursday.
Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, authored House File 386 to widen the options available to families, he told the members of the House's Education Finance Committee.
Kresha's bill expands an education tax credit program to include private tuition. It also incentivizes donations to nonprofits, which then in turn fund private-school scholarships. The bill also covers charter and public schools in poorer areas where at least 30 percent of the students qualify for reduced lunch.
Donors could get 70 percent of their donation back from state coffers in the form of a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. Tax credits usually save people and entities more money than tax deductions because with credits, it doesn't matter what bracket the particular tax filer is in.
However, Thursday's hearing saw strident opposition from public testifiers against Kresha's bill, on the grounds it would divert money away from public schools, which are more intensively regulated.
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The mother of a 6-year-old girl with autism held up a framed picture as she delivered her testimony, which she had to pause after she broke down crying. Rather than expanding choice, Kresha's bill would limit the support and options available to her daughter, because private schools don't have to cater to her, she said.
Education association representatives and DFL lawmakers on the education finance committee spoke out against Kresha's bill and a similar bill authored by Rep. Jim Knoblach, R- St.Cloud. Rep. Jim Davnie, DFL-Minneapolis, said a private school incentive bill passed in Arizona disproportionately favored middle- and higher-income families rather than low. He later added that the donation portion of Kresha's bill would "distort charitable giving" in the state by making it more attractive to donate to scholarships rather than organizations like the VFW or even local churches.
Kresha gave a passionate defense of his bill. He quoted the title of Rabbi Brad Hirschfield's book "You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right" and said the rationale for his bill was to "make room for other cultures and beliefs without negating our own."
The committee voted 12-8 along party lines to refer the bill to the taxes committee. That committee would then need to approve H.F. 386 before it heads to the full body of House lawmakers.
The bill has widespread Republican support, including Speaker of the House Kurt Daudt and Rep. Jenifer Loon, R-Eden Prairie, who chairs the education finance committee, and Rep. Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, chair of the education innovation policy committee.
Minnesota has 472 private schools at the primary and secondary level, but they're mostly concentrated around the Twin Cities metro area, Minnesota Public Radio News noted. About five schools were located in the Brainerd lakes area as of the 2011-2012 school year.
