The PA Senate on Wednesday afternoon passed a school code bill, HB 301, by a strong bipartisan vote of 45-5. $100 million for K-12 mental health programs for schools. Among the key components that we liked were an additional $150 million for education tax credits to provide scholarships to students through the existing Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs.
Democratic leaders touted the bill’s passage and Republican leader Joe Pittman thanked Democrats for their cooperation but seemed to sense possible opposition in the Democratic controlled House. Sure enough, Democrats stripped out the EITC money and put that bill on the House floor.
Here is Democratic Leader Matt Bradford speaking on the House floor early Wednesday night.
https://x.com/PAcatholic/status/1724931081114206429?s=20
Republican Leader Bryan Cutler blasted Democrats for removing the EITC.
