Updated, 6 p.m. Tuesday, with a comment from Rep. Steve Berch, a House Revenue and Taxation Committee member.
Before the House Revenue and Taxation Committee this month approved a bill creating a refundable tax credit for private education expenses, the legislative panel received hundreds of public comments urging lawmakers to reject it.
House Bill 93 would allow private schoolers and home-schoolers to claim a refundable tax credit worth up to $5,000 and $7,500 for special education students. The full House approved the bill and it’s awaiting a Senate vote.
In the days leading up to a Feb. 5 public hearing on HB 93, Revenue and Taxation received more than 1,000 constituents emails, which overwhelmingly opposed the bill — 94% asked the committee to reject it while just 6% were in favor.
Idaho Education News obtained the emails via a public records request.
Rep. Wendy Horman of Idaho Falls, one of four Republican co-sponsors, said common critiques in the emails were based on “common misperceptions about the impact of school choice.”
The Idaho Joint Democratic Legislative Caucus, which opposes the bill, said the tally of negative comments is “stunning.” “It is the will of Idahoans that should be heeded, not out-of-state special interests.”
What did the emails say?
Emails came from every corner of the state, from Ponderay to Preston. Many constituents identified themselves as public school teachers and administrators. Others identified themselves as parents and grandparents or simply as concerned taxpayers. One was a family physician and another was a water rights consultant.
A common concern among opponents was HB 93’s potential impact on public school funding — particularly in rural areas of the state, where access to alternatives is limited. Others said the bill is unconstitutional because it supports religious schools with public funds. Some worried that state spending on private education could get out of hand, citing growing expenses in Arizona and other states with universally accessible private school choice programs.
“Instead of using public funds to subsidize private schools, I urge the Legislature to invest in strengthening our public education system,” said one message. “Ensuring equitable funding for teacher salaries, classroom resources, and support services will have a far greater impact on improving outcomes for all Idaho students.”
Supporters, on the other hand, said the tax credit would ease the financial strain of private school, which is a better fit than public school for their children. Most said their children already attend private schools — such as Watersprings School in Idaho Falls and Nampa Christian Schools — but a handful said the tax credit would make private school attainable for the first time.
“Frankly, it is a sacrifice for our children to attend a private school,” said a Blackfoot resident whose two children go to Watersprings. “We are not wealthy, and any assistance we could receive would be a needed relief. … Many families like ours desperately need a different option for their children. Our children deserve to be in a setting where they can thrive in school.”
Rep. Steve Berch — a Boise Democrat and member of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee who opposed HB 93 — told EdNews Tuesday that the hundreds of emails he received were “original compositions,” as opposed to “carbon-copy emails generated by a third party.”
“It’s far more meaningful — and personal — when someone takes the time to express themselves in writing and in their own words.”
A sampling of constituent emails are pasted below. To read all of the comments, click here. (Note: This is a large file measuring 16 MB.)
Lawmakers react to public comments
In emailed statements to EdNews, Horman and Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog, a co-sponsor on HB 93, countered some of the most common critiques in the comments.
Arizona’s rural public school districts still exist after the state implemented a universal private school choice program in 2022, Horman said, and the Arizona Department of Education had a budget surplus last fiscal year. The Idaho bill would cap tax refunds at $50 million.
“Like any other budgeted program, it will take a majority of a future legislature and the signature of the governor to increase or decrease funding.”
Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said HB 93 would not create an “entitlement program.” Tax credit recipients would only receive state funds for expenses incurred, and the program would be supported by a “revenue reduction” that “does not impact the public schools budget.”
But HB 93’s spending cap could be lifted in the future, reducing revenue to the state’s general fund, which supports public schools. The Democratic caucus pointed to growing costs in other states that have expanded eligibility for private school choice programs. Arizona is expected to spend $800 million on its education savings account program this year, a 323% increase since 2022.
“There’s no reason to believe Idaho’s future will be any different should we go down this road,” the House and Senate Democrats said in an emailed statement. “We urge our colleagues across the aisle to listen to actual Idahoans and prioritize students over special interests.”
Many constituent emails said the Idaho Constitution’s Blaine Amendment prohibits state and local governments from supporting religious institutions using public funds. Most private schools in Idaho are religious. But HB 93 doesn’t run afoul of this provision, Horman said. Parents, not schools, would receive taxpayer funds.
Meanwhile, existing state programs send public funds to private schools, including Idaho Launch, Horman noted. Brigham Young University-Idaho and Northwest Nazarene University participate in the state-funded workforce training scholarship program.
Den Hartog also pointed to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that held states with private school choice programs cannot exclude parochial schools. The court found that “a state cannot rely on its Blaine Amendment to prohibit any religiously neutral and generally available education choice program,” Den Hartog said.
The Senate could vote on HB 93 this week. Approval would send the bill to the governor’s desk.
A sampling of constituent emails
Below is a sampling of emails sent to the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. The names of authors were redacted by the Legislative Services Office, which fulfilled EdNews’ public records request. Authors are identified by their home cities or counties and legislative districts.
Green headings indicate the constituent supported HB 93 while red headings mean they opposed it.
Bonner County, District 1
I appreciate the challenge of considering all the bills being introduced. And I appreciate your intent to improve education. I have spoken to many residents in Bonner and Boundary counties. Every single person I’ve spoken with – including home school parents – say they want the state to fund public education adequately. I am a taxpayer, a grandmother, and an active member of the community in Bonner County … District 1. I’m active in several nonprofits that help fill the gap left by your underfunding of education over the past 20 years. We, the nonprofits, keep our school system running – since the legislature has refused to fulfill its constitutional duty to fund the schools adequately. This is not a sustainable model.
Now you want to bolster a for-profit, alternative schools system to “compete.” Wound the public schools for decades and then bring in a fresh, for-profit competitor. This is not good for your constituents. It will not increase our choice but rather decrease it. We already have choice. This creates subsidies for out-of-state, donors wanting to siphon taxpayer dollars to their for-profit interests.
Hayden, District 3
The reality for families, including mine, is that public school alone is not the perfect fit for every child. My daughters needed another option, and … while we did not know if we could afford anything outside of their public school, we knew that our child could not afford to stay stuck in a school that was not serving them.
Today, (redacted) are attending Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It was a wonderful decision but continues to put a strain on our finances. We need the Idaho Parental Choice Tax Credit to pass, because it would allow us to care for our families’ other needs and will continue to ensure that our child is receiving the life-changing education they deserve.
Potlatch, District 6
In my county, Latah County, the private schools are all religious: Catholic, Anabaptist/Mennonite, and Protestant Christian. Our state constitution (Article 9, Section 5) specifically prohibits using state funds to support sectarian instruction. The religious schools in my county weave religion and sectarian points of view throughout the curriculum. For example, at Logos School in Moscow, the sectarian nature of instruction is spelled right out: Our mission at Logos School is to provide a classical and Christ-centered education. I have nothing against religious schools per se. Some in my county are quite good. But they should not be funded by the state of Idaho.
Idaho County, District 7
School District 244 (Mountain View) has needed school Bond Levies for as long as I’ve lived here (44 yrs), and the Legislature has done little to lessen this burden. This voucher bill will not change this, and more likely worsen the problem, as lower enrollments lead to less funding for public schools. Being a poorer rural area with few private school options, this bill completely favors the urban areas. Families with higher earnings will disproportionately be getting tax benefits while the rural areas will get far less.
Boise, District 18
I am glad you have allocated more money to lower income families, but the problem is that private schools cost way more than $5,000. There is no way a family making less than $60,000 a year could afford the remaining tuition. So the results will be that the families that need it the most still won’t be able to afford it and the money will go to people who really don’t need it.
Instead of diverting public funds to private schools, we should invest that $50 million in strengthening our public education system. Expanding teacher training, reducing class sizes, updating school facilities, and increasing access to special education services will have a far greater positive impact on student achievement than vouchers ever could.
Twin Falls, District 25
I have grandchildren in Twin Falls and in Kuna School districts. I know those schools often struggle with finances to provide the best quality education for the children of Idaho. If we can afford to provide millions more dollars toward private education vouchers, I believe that public tax money should be used for public education to keep our commitment to our state constitution to provide the best public education possible and not to private entities. Further, I also believe we should keep revenue to the state at current level in order to provide as much funding as possible to our schools to enable all our children to thrive.
Burley, District 27
Other states have implemented school voucher programs and have found it to be an extremely expensive program, the benefits of which go mainly to folks who are already paying to send their children to private schools. Even when these state legislatures place a cap on the amount of money to give families to help pay for private schools, it has been shown that the next year the legislature then increases that cap. And so on and so on, until the cost becomes enormous. As an example, the state of Arizona now has an almost one billion dollar budget deficit due to the costs of their school voucher program. And to address this budget deficit, they have had to take money from other vital programs such as public education, water projects, and roads to pay for the small number of people who send their children to private schools. This is wrong for Idaho!
Ammon, District 32
I personally went to and benefited greatly from public school, which prepared me well for my pursuit of higher education that led to me receiving a Masters of Science in Nuclear Engineering, and helped me in many other areas that I continue to use on a daily basis. My wife and I have recently purchased a home in Idaho Falls, and are excited to become long term members of our community here, but we are concerned that, with a school vouchers program, our property taxes will increase, as they did for Wisconsin residents when they initiated a similar program. I also do not approve of the way public money is used with very little oversight in private school programs.
