“Once again, Catholic-school kids get kicked to the curb, along with children attending other faith-sponsored schools,” wrote Archbishop Timothy Dolan in the N.Y. Post of April 1.
Although the N.Y. Senate passed a bill diverting $1.5 million per year of state income tax receipts to nonpublic, mostly religious schools, the Assembly rejected it.
The N.Y. State League of Women Voters warns, “We remain vigilant on the issue, as the proposal may well come up again in the remaining months of this legislative session.”
If you have not sent your letter yet, here’s the information you need. The bill is the Education Investment Incentives Act, Assembly bill A1826B and Senate bill S4099A.
Under it, taxpayers would collect 100% credits against their state income tax BILLS for donations to scholarship organizations.
The organizations would send the money to schools, mostly religious ones, for the tuition of children who meet the schools’ requirements.
The credit is not the familiar deduction from income before taxes. The state would pay all, not part of the gift.
In effect, N.Y. State would direct the income tax payments of donors to sectarian schools.
The Assembly bill would cap total credits for gifts to nonpublic-school scholarship funds at $1.25 million a year, while the Senate bill would cap them at $1.5 million a year.
The legislation would probably violate Art. XI, Sec. 3 of the N.Y. Constitution, which forbids use of state credit, even indirectly, in aid or maintenance of religious schools.
N.Y. Assembly
You can address all N.Y. State Assembly members at: N.Y. State Assembly, Albany NY 12248.
To Identify Your N.Y. State Assembly Member
If you have no access to a computer, you can call your county board of elections. If you have access to a computer, you can take the following steps to learn the name of your Assembly Member.
1. Google N.Y. State Assembly.
2. Click Assembly Members.
3. Click Member Search.
4. A dialogue box will appear. Fill it in.
5. Click submit.
6. Your Assembly Member’s name and website link will appear. If you want to send your message by email from the website, click on the link.
7. When the website appears, look for the word Contact. Click on it.
8. Your Assembly Member’s email address will appear. Click on it, and the email form will appear.
N.Y. Senate
You can address all N.Y. State Senators at: N.Y. State Senate, Albany NY 12247.
To Identify Your N.Y. State Senator
If you have no access to a computer, you can call your county board of elections. If you have access to a computer, you can take the following steps to learn the name of your Senator.
1. Google N.Y. State Senate.
2. Click Senators.
3. You will see on the screen’s upper left a dialogue box headed Find My Senator. Fill in the blanks and click submit.
4. You will see a screen with your Senator’s name and a space where you can write or paste a message.
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