Tuition tax credit task force meeting, Part 1

An STO fund sweep? What an idea!

by David Safier

The House task force on tuition tax credits and STOs met Wednesday. This is the House group started by Ds, then joined by some Rs, not to be confused with the Senate committee started by Rs in response to earlier task force.

Both the Republic and the Trib covered the hearing. (If you only read the Star, I don't think you'd have an inkling it happened). My favorite idea that came out of it: If some School Tuition Organizations (STOs) can't figure out how to give away 90% of the tax credit money that flows in for scholarships, they should return the excess to the general fund. The amount going to the state would be in the millions, possibly the tens of millions.

Hey, R legislators, if you're willing to sweep funds from school districts along with other agencies and programs to help balance the budget, how about this money too? It makes sense to me. Even R. Rep Rich Crandall kinda agrees:

Mesa Republican Rich Crandall, who is also chairman of the House education committee, said he generally supports many of the recommendations, including the idea of sending some unspent funds to the state.

Crandall's wiggle word here is "some" as in "some unspent funds." "Some" can mean anything from 10 bucks to 99.9% of the leftover cash.

Some other recommendations that came out of the hearing:

• People who give tax credit money can't "recommend" who it goes to. Right now, lots of people "recommend" (which usually translates to "designate") the money goes to friends and family members (excluding their own children, which is illegal).
• Students receiving tax credit scholarships should have to come from families below a set income level. Right now, that's true for some of the STOs, but not all of them. Millionaires can get 100% of their children's tuitions paid for.
• STOs need to report their financial dealings in greater detail.

All good ideas.