The pending federal scholarship tax credit program will offer individuals up to $1,700 in tax credits if they donate to qualified student scholarship organizations. Students awarded scholarships can put them toward public or private school expenses like tuition, supplies or educational therapies.
Kendall Cotton leads the Frontier Institute, a conservative Montana think-tank.
“That’s a big deal, because it opens the door for a lot more people, maybe, to take advantage of these tax credits,” Cotton told MTPR in a phone interview. “And, I mean, honestly, a lot more money for these kids to get scholarships.”
The first-of-its-kind federal scholarship tax credit program was tucked into President Donald Trump’s colossal tax and spending bill earlier this year. Helping families afford private school has long been a conservative priority.
Montana’s tax credit programs reward donors who give to private and public school scholarships. Donors claimed the maximum $12 million in credits for both the private and public programs in less than two hours earlier this year. Lawmakers have since voted to allow the cap to grow automatically each year it’s met.
Cotton says the federal tax credit program will help families afford the education they want for their students. It allows those making up to 300% of their area median income to receive scholarships.
But Doug Reisig with the Montana Quality Education Coalition says that means the funds won’t necessarily go to low-income families alone. His organization told the Trump Administration the program will divert billions of dollars from public schools toward private schools that don’t have to follow the same rules.
“They can discriminate against students based on gender, sexual orientation, special needs — things of that nature — that we don’t do, we cannot do and we would never do,” Reisig told MTPR.
States have to opt into the program to be eligible for the tax credits. MTPR reached out to Gov. Greg Gianforte for comment but did not hear back by deadline.
The tax credits are targeting a January 2027 start date.
