1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I am deeply concerned the federally-funded private school voucher program included in HR 1 (aka. OBBB). I strongly urge you to take immediate action to repeal this harmful provision before it is implemented in 2026. The law provides a federal tax incentive that allows taxpayers to receive a 100% federal income tax credit for donations up to $1,700 annually to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). This provision is effectively a backdoor method to strip money and support from our public schools, particularly when combined with other cuts to education funding in the Department of Education. This generous subsidy to private and religious schools is unprecedented. No other charitable giving structure allows for this type of dollar-for-dollar tax incentive! The lack of regulation around SGOs is likely to lead to abuse, and similar voucher programs have already proven to be failures in states where they have been implemented. Lack of cost cap or expiration date will create an ever-expanding drain on public education resources. Moreover, this provision disproportionately benefits private and religious schools while offering no comparable support for public education. It will lead to a significant shift of resources away from public schools that serve our most vulnerable students. I urge you to take immediate action to repeal this provision. Our focus should be on strengthening our public education system, not undermining it through tax incentives that benefit private and religious institutions. Please work to ensure that our tax dollars support the public schools that serve the majority of our nation's children, rather than subsidizing a select few.