Education tax credit sunset

State Sen. Morrell, D-New Orleans, has pre-filed a bill for the 2017 regular session that eliminates what he calls a ““really obscure, weird” tax credit in Louisiana. He hopes it will free up money to fund early childhood and college scholarships instead.
The bill sunsets the state’s individual income tax education credit. In other words, if signed into law this spring, it would discontinue a tax credit that gives $18 to eligible families for each child that has attended kindergarten through 12th grade for at least part of the year.
Morrell said the credit is “under-performing,” partly because very few people know about the credit in the first place.
He also said, when lawmakers reviewed tax credits and exemptions during last three special sessions and last regular session, they found this one has not had a tangible return to the state. He says this is because the credit does not serve a specific purpose, unlike other tax credits that go specifically to buying uniforms or books.
“You could get this credit for sending your kid to school and [then] buy an iTunes giftcard,” he said. “It really makes no sense.”
The credit costs the state $10 million a year. Morrell said he wants to use that money to instead invest dually in two other state education funds: the School Readiness tax credit, which aids early childhood families and childcare providers, and the TOPS program, which provides in-state scholarships for higher education The freed-up funds would give $5 million annually for each.
Morrell said the philosophy behind his sunset bill is similar to that of his other pre-filed bill, which eliminates state sales taxes on tampons and diapers: “Eighteen dollars doesn’t buy you much these days.”