Suit To Challenge Arizona Tax Credit For Tuition Grant Contributions

The Arizona School Boards Association and the ACLU of Arizona plan to file a lawsuit today challenging S.B. 1499, Arizona's new tax credit for corporate contributions to groups that award private school scholarships to low-income students. (See prior posting.) According to the Associated Press, critics are concerned that the tax credits will divert funds from public schools. The court challenge will apparently focus on whether the tax credits violate state constitutional provisions prohibiting public funding for religious schools and requiring that the state provide a general and uniform public school system. In 1999, in Kotterman v. Killian, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a similar tax credit for contributions by individuals. A federal constitutional challenge to the individual tax credit is currently before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.