GOP Eyes Holy Grail

Republicans are pushing to include a bill in the budget reconciliation that would create federal tax credits to expand school choice nationwide.

In 2023, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced the Educational Choice for Children Act, but it failed to advance out of committee.

Now, GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), are pushing to pass the ECCA through reconciliation, as Democrats remain opposed to creating a fund that allows parents to choose where to send their children to school.

In the absence of bipartisan support, Republicans, who control the House and Senate with slim majorities, could pass the ECCA with a simple majority in each chamber if it was included in reconciliation. Otherwise, it would require 60 votes in the Senate.

“The other side believes that there should be a centralized process in which all the power should be in D.C., and bureaucrats should decide what has actually been happening in our districts,” Owens told the Washington Examiner. “That’s why reconciliation would be a very good way of going at it because we can do it with a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate, and President Trump will definitely sign off.”

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