CS/HB 465

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Corporate Income Tax Credit
3	Scholarship Program; amending s. 220.187, F.S.; providing
4	legislative findings; revising program purposes; providing
5	a definition; providing that specified students who have
6	been in Department of Juvenile Justice education programs
7	or who are currently or have been in foster care are
8	eligible for participation in the scholarship program;
9	providing income criteria for continuation of scholarships
10	for students in foster care; providing an effective date.
11
12	WHEREAS, the Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship
13	Program has produced substantial cost savings by relieving the
14	state of the expense of educating program participants in public
15	schools at a cost in foregone tax revenue that is substantially
16	less than the per-student cost of educating children in public
17	schools, and
18	WHEREAS, the Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship
19	Program has relieved public school class size by creating new
20	classroom spaces in the public schools at no cost to the
21	taxpayers, and
22	WHEREAS, empirical evidence is clear, overwhelming, and
23	uncontroverted that expanding educational options produces
24	improved educational outcomes, both for participating children
25	and for public schools that are exposed to healthy competition
26	as a result, and no study has ever documented any harm to public
27	schools as a result of expanding educational options through
28	programs like the Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship
29	Program, NOW, THEREFORE,
30
31	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
32
33	Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (3) of section 220.187,
34	Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (f) is added to
35	subsection (2) of that section, to read:
36	220.187  Credits for contributions to nonprofit
37	scholarship-funding organizations.--
38	(1)  FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.--
39	(a)  The Legislature finds that:
40	1.  It has the inherent power to determine subjects of
41	taxation for general or particular public purposes.
42	2.  Expanding educational opportunities and improving the
43	quality of educational services within the state are valid
44	public purposes that the Legislature may promote using its
45	sovereign power to determine subjects of taxation and exemptions
46	from taxation.
47	3.  Ensuring that all parents, regardless of means, may
48	exercise and enjoy their basic right to educate their children
49	as they see fit is a valid public purpose that the Legislature
50	may promote using its sovereign power to determine subjects of
51	taxation and exemptions from taxation.
52	4.  The existence of programs that provide expanded
53	educational opportunities in this state has not been shown to
54	reduce funding to or otherwise harm public schools within the
55	state, and, to the contrary, per-student funding in public
56	schools has risen each year since the first inception of those
57	programs in 1999.
58	5.  Expanded educational opportunities and the healthy
59	competition they promote are critical to improving the quality
60	of education in the state and to ensuring that all children
61	receive the high-quality education to which they are entitled.
62	(b)  The purpose of this section is to:
63	1.(a)  Enable taxpayers to make Encourage private,
64	voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding
65	organizations in order to promote the general welfare.
66	2.  Provide taxpayers who wish to help parents with limited
67	resources exercise their basic right to educate their children
68	as they see fit with a means to do so.
69	3.(b)  Promote the general welfare by expanding Expand
70	educational opportunities for children of families that have
71	limited financial resources.
72	4.(c)  Enable children in this state to achieve a greater
73	level of excellence in their education.
74	5.  Improve the quality of education in this state, both by
75	expanding educational opportunities for children and by creating
76	incentives for schools to achieve excellence.
77	(2)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
78	(f)  "Parent" has the same meaning as in s. 1000.21.
79	(3)  PROGRAM; SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--The Corporate
80	Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program is established. A student
81	is eligible for a corporate income tax credit scholarship if the
82	student qualifies for free or reduced-price school lunches under
83	the National School Lunch Act and:
84	(a)  Was counted as a full-time equivalent student during
85	the previous state fiscal year for purposes of state per-student
86	funding;
87	(b)  Was counted as a full-time equivalent student at any
88	time during the previous state fiscal year in a Department of
89	Juvenile Justice education program under s. 1003.52 for purposes
90	of state per-student funding;
91	(c)(b)  Received a scholarship from an eligible nonprofit
92	scholarship-funding organization or from the State of Florida
93	during the previous school year; or
94	(d)(c)  Is eligible to enter kindergarten or first grade;
95	or
96	(e)  Is currently placed, or during the previous state
97	fiscal year was placed, in foster care as defined in s. 39.01.
98
99	Contingent upon available funds, a student may continue in the
100	scholarship program as long as the student's family income level
101	does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Family
102	income for purposes of a student who is currently in foster care
103	as defined in s. 39.01 shall consist only of the income that may
104	be considered in determining whether he or she qualifies for
105	free or reduced-price school lunches under the National School
106	Lunch Act.
107	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.