Tax credit scholarship program.

2017
STATE OF WYOMING
17LSO-0260
Introduced
1.3

HOUSE BILL

NO.
HB0150

Tax credit scholarship program.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Madden

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to education; establishing the tax credit scholarship program; specifying duties of the state superintendent; providing program requirements; authorizing severance tax credits; providing definitions; providing rulemaking authority; providing a sunset date; requiring reports; providing applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
701 through 21
‑
4
‑
704

are
created to read:

ARTICLE 7
TAX CREDIT SCHOLARSHIP
PROGRAM

21
‑
4
‑
701
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this article:

(i
)

"Private school" means
any nonpublic
elementary or secondary school providing a basic academic educational program for children and may include parochial and church or religious schools;

(ii
)

"Scholarship organization" means a
person
who is selected to operate
a
tax credit scholarship
prog
ram as provided in this article;

(iii)

"Tax credit scholarship" means
a
scholarship awarded to a student in Wyoming under the tax credit scholarship program and used only for costs and materials associated with attending a private school in grades kindergarten through twelve (12).

21
‑
4
‑
702
.

Program operation.

(a)

The state superintendent shall
recommend
to the state loan and investment board at least one (1)

applicant
to
act as a scholarship organization and
operate a
tax credit scholarship
program.
The board shall review the recommendation of the state superintendent and select
one (1)
appropriate person to operate the program.
In making a selection under this sec
tion the
board
shall
d
etermine if the
person
has submitted an application in accordance with rule and regulation of the state superintendent that demonstrates that the
person
is able to administer
the
program in accordance with the requirements of W.S
. 21
‑
4
‑
703.

(b)

Not later than December 31 of each year
,
the state superintendent shall determine amounts that are
not expended from
the school foundation program account as a result of the operation of the
tax credit scholarship
program under this article and report that amount to the
joint education
interim
committee and the
state treasurer.
O
ne
‑
third (1/3) of the amount reported by the state
superintendent
, not to exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000.00), shall be transferred from the
amount that would otherwise be transferred to the school foundation program account under W.S. 9
‑
4
‑
601(
a)(ii) and
distributed
to the severance tax distribution account.

21
‑
4
‑
703
.

Scholarship organization duties.

(a)

A
person
may apply to the state superintendent as provided under W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
702 to be a scholarship organization.

(b)

A scholarship organization sel
ected by the state
loan and investment
board
under W.
S. 21
‑
4
‑
702 shall operate a tax credit scholarship
program as provided in this section. The program shall:

(i)

Be limited to
total
donations
of not more than
three million dollars ($3,000,000.00)
in each fiscal
year
for operation of the scholarship program
;

(ii)

Provide a mechanism to
accept
funding for the program, provided that the aggregate amount
of funding in any one (1) year
shall not exceed the amount specified in paragraph (i) of this subsection;

(
i
ii)

Provide a mechanism for the parent or guardian of a student
attending public school
in Wyoming to apply
for a scholarship
;

(
i
v
)

Provide
a preference for awarding
tax credit scholarships
to students
in the following order of preference:

(A)

Students from families with a household income that is seventy
‑
five percent (75%) or less of the median household income for the county where the student resides;

(B)

Students
atten
d
ing schools
in
school districts which are deter
mined to have capacity concerns;

(C)

S
tudents
attending
schools that are
identified as not meeting expectations

under W.S. 21
‑
2
‑
204(
e)(i)(D)
;

(D)

Students that received a preference under this paragraph in a previous year.

(
v
)

Limit the
annual
amount that each student may receive under the program to not more than one
‑
third (1/3) of the statewide average per student amount that is received by school districts under W.S. 21
‑
13
‑
309
for the preceding school year
;

(
v
i
)

Provide
a mechanism
to ensure scholarships awarded under the program
are used only for costs associated with attending private schools in Wyoming;

(v
i
i)

Report information on the progr
am as required by rule and regulation of the state superintendent including information on the students who are awarded
tax credit scholarships
, the private schools that are being attended by those students and any other information
necessary to enable the superintendent to determine if the
tax credit scholarship
program is being operated effectively.

(c)

The scholarship organization may use not more than ten percent (10%) of the amounts received under paragraph (b
)(
ii) of this section for the costs of operati
ng the program. The state superintendent may request an accounting of funds expended under this subsection.

(d
)

Any person
who
provides funding for the
tax credit scholarship
program under
paragraph (b)(ii) of this section
may apply for a tax credit under W.S. 39
‑
14
‑
109(d)(iv) or 39
‑
14
‑
209(d)(iv) in an amount equal to the
total
amount
the person
actually provided to
fund the
tax credit scholarship
program
.
The scholarship organization shall not accept any amount in excess of the aggregate limit specified in paragraph (b
)(
i) of this section.

21
‑
4
‑
704
.

Sunset provision.

W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
701 through 21
‑
4
‑
704
are
repealed effective June 30, 2022.

Section 2
.

W.S. 9
‑
4
‑
601(a)(ii) and by creating a new paragraph (xii), 39
‑
14
‑
109(d) by creating a new paragraph (iv) and 39
‑
14
‑
209(d) by creating a new paragraph (iv) are amended to read:

9
‑
4
‑
601
.

Distribution and use; funds, accounts, cities and towns benefited; exception for bonus payments.

(a)

All monies received by the state of Wyoming from the secretary of the treasury of the United States under the provisions of the act of congress of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437, 450; 30 U.S.C. §§ 181, 191), as amended, or from lessees or authorized mine operators and all monies received by the state from its sale of production from federal mineral leases subject to the act of congress of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437, 450; 30 U.S.C. §§ 181, 191) as amended, except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, shall be deposited into an account and the first two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000.00) of
revenues received in any fiscal year shall be distributed by the state treasurer as provided in this subsection. One percent (1%) of these revenues shall be credited to the general fund as an administrative fee, and the remainder shall be distributed as follows:

(ii)

Subject to
paragraph

paragraphs
(xi)
and (xii)

of this section, forty
‑
four and eight
‑
tenths percent (44.8%) to the public school foundation program account subject to allocations under W.S. 9
‑
4
‑
605;

(xii)

From the amounts which would otherwise be distributed to the school foundation program account under paragraph (ii) of this subsection, there is annually appropriated the amount determined under W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
702(b) to be distributed to the severance tax distribution account.

39
‑
14
‑
109
.

Taxpayer remedies.

(d)

Credits. The following shall apply:

(iv)

A taxpayer may apply for a credit equal to amounts actually provided for
the
tax credit scholarship
program as provided in W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
703(
d
)
,

provided that the total amount of credits under this paragraph shall not
exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000.00)
in any one (1) year
.
The credit shall not apply to any tax due under W.S. 39
‑
14
‑
104(
a)(i).

39
‑
14
‑
209
.

Taxpayer remedies.

(d)

Credits. The following shall apply:

(iv)

A taxpayer may apply for a credit equal to amounts actually provided for
the
tax credit scholarship
program
as pr
ovided in W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
703(
d
)
,

provided that the total amount of credits under this paragraph shall not
exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000.00)
in any one (1) year
.
The credit shall not apply to any tax due under W.S. 39
‑
14
‑
2
04(
a)(i).

Section 3.

(a)

The state superintendent shall report to the joint education
interim
committee on the
tax credit scholarship
program not later than November 15, 201
7
and each year thereafter until November 15, 2021. The report required under this section shall include:

(i)

The number
of

persons

who
applied to
operate
the program
under W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
703(
a)
;

(ii)

The amount of funding provided for
scholarships
under W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
703(
b)(i) and (ii)
;

(ii
i
)

The number of students participating in the program;

(i
v
)

The
amount of funds that we
re not expended
in the applicable year
from the school foundation program account as a result of the program;

(
v)

Recommendations regarding the limitations
on the program as provided by law including
the
maximum of three million dollars ($3,000,000.00)
in total funding for
the program
per year
and whether those limitations

are
appropriate or should be revised;

(v)

Recommendations regarding the sunset date as provided in W.S. 21
‑
4
‑
704 and whether the program should continue.

Section 4
.

The state superintendent shall adopt rules and regulations as necessary to begin accepting applications for implementation of the
tax credit scholarship
program in school year 2017
‑
2018
.

Section
5
.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB0150