HB129 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Danny GarrettRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2024

Title

Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students’ Education (CHOOSE) Act of 2024, established to provide education savings accounts (ESAs) for parents of children to use in providing education services for those children.

Summary

HB129 creates Education Savings Accounts funded by refundable tax credits to help eligible Alabama students access education services from participating schools or providers, starting in 2025-2026.

What This Bill Does

It directs the Department of Revenue to establish Education Savings Accounts for eligible students and to issue refundable tax credits to their parents to cover qualifying educational expenses. The credits are capped at $7,000 per participating student in a participating school, or $2,000 per student not in a participating school, with family limits and starting and income-eligibility rules. A CHOOSE Act Fund in the State Treasury will hold the credits and must be funded with at least $100 million each year, with special provisions for priority groups like siblings and special-needs students. It also creates rules for participating schools and education service providers to qualify, report, and avoid misuse, and gives the Department power to audit, suspend, or recapture funds as needed.

Who It Affects

• Parents of eligible students — could receive a refundable tax credit to help pay qualifying educational expenses through an ESA, with eligibility based on income and student status and subject to annual limits and priorities.
• Participating schools and education service providers (and resident school districts acting as providers) — can become approved ESA providers, must meet health/safety, privacy, and reporting requirements, and could face audits, refunds, or suspension if funds are misused.

Key Provisions

• Establish CHOOSE Act Fund in the State Treasury and require at least $100 million annual appropriation to fund the tax credits, with rules on carryover and possible revert of excess funds.
• Create Education Savings Accounts administered by the Department of Revenue to hold funds for qualifying educational expenses and allow parents to pay education service providers or participating schools.
• Provide refundable income tax credits to eligible parents starting 2025-2026, with eligibility initially limited to families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level and expanding to all families from 2027; credits capped at $7,000 per participating student in a participating school or $2,000 per student not in a participating school, with a family cap of $4,000 for non-participating students.
• Prioritize credits first for participating students and their siblings, then for dependents of active-duty service members at priority schools, and then by income; reserve the first 500 credits for special-needs students.
• Require participating schools and education service providers to meet standards (accreditation, safety, FERPA compliance, reporting) and allow the department to audit, suspend, or disqualify providers and recover misused funds.
• Limit the use of funds to qualifying educational expenses and prohibit refunds or sharing program funds with parents or students; require periodic payments and annual reporting; require documentation and compliance with FERPA.
• Allow parents to appeal department decisions and provide for a process to review constitutionality in court if challenged; ensure special-needs students retain access to district services; require funds to be used for eligible students even if in a private or religious school.
• Provide that unused ESA funds are remitted back to the CHOOSE Act Fund at year end; ensure ESAs cannot provide direct payments to students or parents; allow the department to seek federal immigration status verification but not determine lawful presence.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Education