Bill > LB509

This bill establishes the Opportunity Scholarships Act, which creates a tax credit program to support private school education in Nebraska. The bill allows individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, and trusts to receive tax credits for cash contributions to scholarship-granting organizations that provide financial assistance to eligible students attending qualified private schools. Eligible students include those entering kindergarten or ninth grade, transferring from public schools, from military families, or from low-income households. The scholarship-granting organizations must be non-profit entities that allocate at least 90% of their revenue to education scholarships and prioritize students based on specific criteria, such as previous scholarship recipients, siblings of current scholarship students, and students from lower-income families. The tax credits are capped at a maximum of $100,000 for individuals and corporate taxpayers, with an annual statewide limit of $25 million in 2025-2027, potentially increasing to $100 million in subsequent years. The bill aims to provide more educational choices for families, particularly those with limited financial resources, by encouraging private contributions to support student tuition at private schools. The tax credits are non-refundable and can be carried forward for up to five years, and scholarship-granting organizations must report annually on their activities and the demographics of scholarship recipients.

Budget and Finance

https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=59783