During Friday's broadcast of WVNN's "The Dale Jackson Show," State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) discussed legislation that will allocate additional funding to school choice purposes.
"The bill is now pending in the Senate. The House basically just ratified what Governor Ivey had recommended in her proposed budget, so it will fully fund year two of the CHOOSE Act," explained Orr.
"As you know, that's those with a percentage of poverty cap, as far as those that would be eligible in year two, but after year two, that cap comes off, and then it's just up to how much will be appropriated," he added. "How much will the governor and legislature appropriate to that program, and as we appropriate that, depending on those dollars, how much they are that would presumably the cap the 350% poverty would float up, or could float back down, just based on that appropriation amount."
Orr noted the massive number of applicants hoping to enroll in the Alabama school choice program.
"Right now, last week's numbers, I'll get a new number today. The amount was around 187 million in applications," he revealed. "That doesn't mean they've all been validated and that they're able to get the funding, because their income may not meet that income cap, and they just may not be eligible, but applications were at 187 million right now. Governor Ivey put $250 million in her budget request, so there's plenty of money there."
Concluded Orr, "I'm sure we'll have some here in the last few days, Tuesday being the last day for people to apply."
The CHOOSE Act makes refundable income tax credits, called education savings accounts (ESAs), available to support eligible K5-12 students for specific expenditures.
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