NY gov to back Trump's tax credit for school choice

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is planning to participate in President Donald Trump's controversial federal school choice program, according to a statement Friday. 

Hochul will be one of the few Democratic leaders to opt into Trump's program, which is structured as a federal tax credit that allows individuals to direct as much as $1,700 of their annual federal tax bill to nonprofits that grant scholarships to eligible students for qualified educational expenses. It is the first federal "school choice" program, a term that typically refers to programs that use public money to help fund private education options for families. 

"Governor Hochul is supportive of the federal tax credit scholarship and its potential to help New York students and schools," Deputy Press Secretary Emma Wallner said in a statement. The program begins in 2027. 

The decision was first reported by Yeshiva World News citing comments the governor made in a private meeting with leaders of Agudath Israel of America, an advocacy group.

Under the Trump program, each governor must decide to opt in, for students to be able to receive funds. Since the program was passed last summer, participation has largely followed party lines, with Republican lawmakers in support and Democrats and labor unions opposed to what they see as another harmful blow to struggling public schools.

The one exception until Hochul's decision was Colorado's Democratic governor Jared Polis. But pressure has been mounting for Democratic governors to back Trump's program. In Illinois' primary election in March, a third of the state's counties and a handful of townships asked voters whether Democratic Governor JB Pritzker should opt in and a majority of voters said yes. 

Hochul's decision is being lauded by proponents of Trump's program as a harbinger of changing tides. 

"As the largest Democratic-led state to act, New York sends an unmistakable signal to every blue-state governor still on the sidelines," said Jorge Elorza, a former Democratic mayor of Providence, Rhode Island in a statement. 

Elorza leads Democrats for Education Reform, a political action committee that has been pushing for Democratic governors to opt in to the program since it became law last summer. The group estimates that New York-based taxpayers could redirect up to $1.5 billion in federal tax liability to nonprofits to give to students. 

If Hochul did not opt in, New York taxpayers could still participate, but they would have to direct their funds to a program in another state that has opted in. 

Wallner noted that Hochul's office will still need to review the details of the program, as the rules clarifying how it will operate have not been released. They will be watching "for poison pills that could harm New York's education system," she said.