SB61 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arthur Orr Senator

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.

Description

This bill would direct the Department of Revenue to establish education savings accounts for the parent of an approved, participating student to offset the costs of qualifying educational expenses. The bill would establish various program requirements, including provisions to prevent fraud and other misuse of program funds. The ESAs would first be available for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The ESAs would be funded through the proceeds of a new, refundable income tax credit made available to certain parents of an eligible student. For the years beginning January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026, the parent of an eligible student could receive the credit if his or her family had an adjusted gross income not exceeding 300 percent of the federal poverty level for the preceding year. For the years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, the credit could be available to any parent of an eligible student. The annual amount of the credit would be capped at $7,000 for participating students enrolled in a participating school. For participating students not enrolled in a participating school, the annual amount of the credit would be capped at $2,000, with a cap of $4,000 cap for the family.

The bill would establish a new fund in the State SB61 INTRODUCED Treasury to be known as the CHOOSE Act Fund. Annually, the bill would require the Legislature to appropriate to this fund not less than $100 million. In allocating the newly established tax credits, the Department of Revenue would give priority to students already participating in the program and their siblings. The Department would also give priority based on the family’s adjusted gross income as a percentage of the federal poverty level. The first 500 tax credits would be reserved for the parent of an eligible student who is a special-needs student.

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Subjects

Education