Senator Anitere Flores, District 38 — Press Release

Sen. Flores’ Bill to Expand Tax Credit Scholarship Passes Senate

Tallahassee, FL — The Florida Senate today passed Senate Bill 1388 / House Bill 965, relating to Florida Tax Credit Scholarships which provide learning options for low-income students. The scholarship program has seen continued growth and participation from contributing companies over the past year, and lawmakers would like to see its success continue. Bill sponsors, Senator Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Representative Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, hope their measure allows more companies and students to participate.

The program’s scholarships are currently limited to $4,106 for each low-income student to attend a private K-12 school or for transportation scholarships of $500 each to attend an out-of-district public school. Participating companies receive a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit for contributions made to approved organizations. Roughly 33,000 students received a scholarship for the 2010-2011 school year, and next year’s cap will increase to $175 million and assist another 6,000 students. Meanwhile, 10,000 additional students are on a waiting list for these scholarships.

The program’s popularity was demonstrated by its $140 million cap being met in less than 12 months. Some companies have also asked to participate at an even higher level than current limits of 75 percent of their liability. According to Flores, the program needs changes to the law in order to keep up with its popularity within the corporate community and to serve more students.

“Reductions in the corporate income tax this session will take away from the potential revenue pool for this program,” said Flores. “Both the Governor and the Legislature want to insulate students from any changes in tax policy. This bill will make it easier for individual companies to participate to the fullest extent by giving Scholarship Funding Organizations more tools and companies more flexibility.”

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The bill’s proposed changes will:

• Increase the potential size of an individual corporate contribution to the scholarship program by allowing an individual corporation to receive a tax credit for up to 100 percent of its corporate income tax or insurance premium tax liability. The current limit is 75 percent.
• Allow a corporation that contributes to the scholarship program but lacks sufficient tax liability to carry forward the amount for five years in order to recover the full tax credit. The current limit is three years.
• Remove the limitation on the number of times a corporation can rescind its request for a tax credit, freeing up the credits for other companies to use.

“This bill does not change the amount of the individual scholarship or the cap that governs the overall amount of tax credits dedicated annually for the program,” added Flores. “Nor does it increase the cost of the program. This is just a good bill to allow more students to enjoy these benefits and allow more businesses to participate.”

To learn more about this and other bills moving through the legislative process, visit www.flsenate.gov. 

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