Dear Rapid Response Team:
HB 279 passed out of the House Education committee and will be voted on in the full House of Representatives TODAY, Mar. 26, 2021.
Right now, Montanans can receive up to $150 of their MT tax obligation forgiven for contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (SSO's). SSO's fund tuition to private (primarily religious) k-12 schools.
SB 279 increases the allowable tax credit to $200,000, costing the state nearly $25 million in revenue over the next two biennia. You can find the fiscal note here.
Please contact your Representative and ask them to vote NO on HB 279 on second reading.
Here is the MFPE one-pager on all of the school privatization bills:
You can use this online form, call the Capitol Switchboard at 444-4800, or use their personal email addresses and phone numbers. See mfpe.org for a list.
If you want to message the entire House, use the online messaging form to contact the Business and Labor, Judiciary, Taxation, Appropriations, and State Administration committees. You can use the "back" function to send the same message to a different committee.
Please don't copy and paste the talking points. Be kind! Remember not to use work time or devices. THANK YOU!
Talking points:
HB 279 passed out of the House Education committee and will be voted on in the full House of Representatives TODAY, Mar. 26, 2021.
Right now, Montanans can receive up to $150 of their MT tax obligation forgiven for contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations (SSO's). SSO's fund tuition to private (primarily religious) k-12 schools.
SB 279 increases the allowable tax credit to $200,000, costing the state nearly $25 million in revenue over the next two biennia. You can find the fiscal note here.
Please contact your Representative and ask them to vote NO on HB 279 on second reading.
Here is the MFPE one-pager on all of the school privatization bills:
You can use this online form, call the Capitol Switchboard at 444-4800, or use their personal email addresses and phone numbers. See mfpe.org for a list.
If you want to message the entire House, use the online messaging form to contact the Business and Labor, Judiciary, Taxation, Appropriations, and State Administration committees. You can use the "back" function to send the same message to a different committee.
Please don't copy and paste the talking points. Be kind! Remember not to use work time or devices. THANK YOU!
Talking points:
- HB 279 raises the allowable tax credit for donations to private and for-profit schools from $150 to… $200,000 (a 133,333% increase)
- Corporations are also entitled to the tax credit
- HB 279 reduces our general fund thereby reducing the funds available for not just our public schools but all public works such as public roads, and public water systems, and public safety to name a few.
- Shouldn’t we be working to increase revenue to support our schools and communities rather than finding tax breaks for the wealthy?
- HB 279 is a page out of the ALEC playbook and this legislature should not be steered by out-of-state corporate lobbyists
- HB 279 will force schools to choose between raising local property taxes and cutting programs (fixed costs don't go down when a handful of students leave for private schools)
- 2/3 of private schools are in the 7 largest counties, so this tax credit bill leaves rural students out
- HB 279 creates a private school voucher system (a policy that Montanans oppose)
