Written by Don Byrd
The ACLU and Americans United filed suit yesterday against the State of New Hampshire over a tax credit program they say improperly sends taxpayer funds to religious schools in violation of the state’s constitution. Bob Allen reports on the legal New Hampshire tax credit challenge for ABP:
The program allows businesses to reduce their tax liability by receiving an 85 percent tax credit in exchange for donations made to K-12 scholarship organizations, which will pay for tuition at private schools. Since there will be no state oversight of the schools receiving scholarship monies, the plaintiffs say religious schools will be able to use the funds for religious instruction, indoctrination and discrimination.
They do not challenge the rights of religious schools to teach their own beliefs, but they claim the tax credits violate the state constitution’s guarantee that “no person shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the schools of any sect or denomination.”
A voucher by any other name is still just that, a scheme that diverts taxpayer funds away from public schools and into the coffers of religious schools. State provisions that prohibit such a plan help to safeguard religious liberty and should be respected.
You can read the ACLU press release for the tax credit case here. The complaint (pdf) is here.
