A huge tax cut for the wealthy in the form of a private school voucher tax credit is in the U.S. budget bill that has passed the Senate and is back in the House. It has been revised, but maintains the same essential structure and function of the original.
The budget bill is being discussed and may be voted on any day. At the same time, the U.S. The Department of Education under Trump’s direction just withheld nearly $7 BILLION in federal public education dollars from states. North Carolina stands to lose more than $165.4 million if the cuts are allowed to stand. The spending was Congressionally approved in prior budgets, so legal action is likely.
The harmful voucher program basically functions as a tax shelter that provides dollar-for-dollar tax credits for people who give money to organizations that distribute vouchers. This voucher tax credit scheme preferences donating to voucher programs because it pays out 100%, dollar-for dollar tax credits. Most other charitable giving, such as donations to hospitals, veterans’ assistance groups, homeless shelters, etc. receive no more than 35% of each dollar donated.
The previous version put a cap of $4 BILLION/year for the program. The current version of the voucher tax credit has no cap, which means that tens of billions each year could be siphoned away from public use.
