Alabama 2022 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HB393 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 HB393
2	2	2 217896-1
3	3	3 By Representative Meadows
4	4	4 RFD: Ways and Means Education
5	5	5 First Read: 22-FEB-22
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7	7	Page 0 1 217896-1:n:02/22/2022:AHP/cmg LSA2022-753
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14	14	8 SYNOPSIS: Under current law, a taxpayer may claim a
15	15	9 tax credit in an amount equal to 100 percent of the
16	16	10 total contributions the taxpayer made to a
17	17	11 scholarship granting organization for educational
18	18	12 scholarships during the taxable year for which the
19	19	13 credit is claimed, up to 50 percent of the tax
20	20	14 liability of the taxpayer, not to exceed $50,000
21	21	15 per taxpayer or a cumulative amount of $30,000,000
22	22	16 annually.
23	23	17 This bill would allow a taxpayer to claim a
24	24	18 tax credit of up to 100 percent of the tax
25	25	19 liability of the taxpayer, not to exceed $100,000
26	26	20 per taxpayer or a cumulative amount of $30,000,000
27	27	21 annually.
28	28	22 Under current law, all scholarship granting
29	29	23 organizations must ensure that scholarship funds on
30	30	24 hand at the beginning of a calendar year are
31	31	25 expended on educational scholarships by the end of
32	32	26 the academic year ending within the next succeeding
33	33	27 calendar year.
34	34	Page 1 1 This bill would require all scholarship
35	35	2 granting organizations to ensure that scholarship
36	36	3 funds on hand at the beginning of a calendar year
37	37	4 are expended on educational scholarships within
38	38	5 three calendar years.
39	39	6
40	40	7 A BILL
41	41	8 TO BE ENTITLED
42	42	9 AN ACT
43	43	10
44	44	11 Relating to scholarship granting organizations; to
45	45	12 amend Section 16-6D-9 of the Code of Alabama 1975, to allow a
46	46	13 taxpayer to claim a tax credit of up to 100 percent of the tax
47	47	14 liability of the taxpayer, not to exceed a specified amount,
48	48	15 for contributions made to a scholarship granting organization
49	49	16 for educational scholarships; to require a scholarship
50	50	17 granting organization to ensure that scholarship funds on hand
51	51	18 at the beginning of a calendar year are expended on
52	52	19 educational scholarships within three calendar years; and to
53	53	20 provide for a retroactive effective date.
54	54	21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
55	55	22 Section 1. Section 16-6D-9 of the Code of Alabama
56	56	23 1975, is amended to read as follows:
57	57	24 "§16-6D-9.
58	58	25 "(a)(1) An individual taxpayer who files a state
59	59	26 income tax return and is not claimed as a dependent of another
60	60	27 taxpayer, a taxpayer subject to the corporate income tax
61	61	Page 2 1 levied by Chapter 18 of Title 40, an Alabama S corporation as
62	62	2 defined in Section 40-18-160, or a Subchapter K entity as
63	63	3 defined in Section 40-18-1 may claim a credit for a
64	64	4 contribution made to a scholarship granting organization. If
65	65	5 the credit is claimed by an Alabama S corporation or
66	66	6 Subchapter K entity, the credit shall pass through to and may
67	67	7 be claimed by any taxpayer eligible to claim a credit under
68	68	8 this subdivision who is a shareholder, partner, or member
69	69	9 thereof, based on the taxpayer's pro rata or distributive
70	70	10 share, respectively, of the credit.
71	71	11 "(2) The tax credit may be claimed by an individual
72	72	12 taxpayer or a married couple filing jointly in an amount equal
73	73	13 to 100 percent of the total contributions the taxpayer made to
74	74	14 a scholarship granting organization for educational
75	75	15 scholarships during the taxable year for which the credit is
76	76	16 claimed, up to 50 100 percent of the tax liability of the
77	77	17 individual taxpayer, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars
78	78	18 ($50,000) one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per
79	79	19 individual taxpayer or married couple filing jointly. For
80	80	20 purposes of this section, an individual taxpayer includes an
81	81	21 individual who is a shareholder of an Alabama S corporation or
82	82	22 a partner or member of a Subchapter K entity that made a
83	83	23 contribution to a scholarship granting organization.
84	84	24 "(3) The tax credit may be claimed by a taxpayer
85	85	25 subject to the Alabama corporate income tax in an amount equal
86	86	26 to 100 percent of the total contributions the taxpayer made to
87	87	27 a scholarship granting organization for educational
88	88	Page 3 1 scholarships during the taxable year for which the credit is
89	89	2 claimed, up to 50 100 percent of the tax liability of the
90	90	3 taxpayer.
91	91	4 "(4) A taxpayer subject to the Alabama corporate
92	92	5 income tax, an individual taxpayer, or a married couple filing
93	93	6 jointly may carry forward a tax credit earned under the tax
94	94	7 credit scholarship program for up to three taxable years.
95	95	8 "(5) The cumulative amount of tax credits issued
96	96	9 pursuant to subdivision (2) and subdivision (3) shall not
97	97	10 exceed thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) annually, based on
98	98	11 the calendar year. A taxpayer making one or more otherwise
99	99	12 tax-creditable contributions before the due date, with
100	100	13 extensions, of a timely filed 2014 tax return may elect to
101	101	14 treat all or a portion of such contributions as applying to
102	102	15 and creditable against its 2014 Alabama income tax liability,
103	103	16 if the taxpayer properly reserves the credit on the website of
104	104	17 the Department of Revenue or another method provided by the
105	105	18 Department of Revenue. The amount creditable against the
106	106	19 taxpayer's 2014 income tax liability shall be limited to the
107	107	20 lesser of the amount so designated or the remaining balance,
108	108	21 if any, of the cumulative amount of the twenty-five million
109	109	22 dollars ($25,000,000) of tax credits available for the 2014
110	110	23 calendar year. No such contribution and election by a taxpayer
111	111	24 to reserve tax credits against the remaining balance of the
112	112	25 cumulative amount of tax credits available for 2014 shall
113	113	26 preclude the taxpayer from making additional contributions in
114	114	27 2015 and reserving those amounts against the cumulative amount
115	115	Page 4 1 of tax credits available for 2015. The Department of Revenue
116	116	2 shall develop a procedure to ensure that this cap is not
117	117	3 exceeded and shall also prescribe the various methods by which
118	118	4 these credits are to be issued.
119	119	5 "(6) No credit may be claimed for a contribution
120	120	6 made to a scholarship granting organization if the
121	121	7 contribution is restricted or conditioned in any way by the
122	122	8 donor including, but not limited to, requiring the scholarship
123	123	9 granting organization to direct all or part of the
124	124	10 contribution to a particular qualifying school or to grant an
125	125	11 educational scholarship to a particular eligible student.
126	126	12 "(b)(1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS. All
127	127	13 scholarship granting organizations shall do all of the
128	128	14 following:
129	129	15 "a. Notify the Department of Revenue of their intent
130	130	16 to provide educational scholarships to eligible students.
131	131	17 "b. Demonstrate to the Department of Revenue that
132	132	18 they have been granted exemption from the federal income tax
133	133	19 as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the
134	134	20 Internal Revenue Code, as in effect from time to time.
135	135	21 "c. Distribute periodic educational scholarship
136	136	22 payments as checks made out and mailed to or directly
137	137	23 deposited with the school where the student is enrolled.
138	138	24 "d. Provide a Department of Revenue approved receipt
139	139	25 to taxpayers for contributions made to the scholarship
140	140	26 granting organization.
141	141	Page 5 1 "e. Ensure that all determinations with respect to
142	142	2 the eligibility of a student to receive an educational
143	143	3 scholarship shall be made by the scholarship granting
144	144	4 organization. A scholarship granting organization shall not
145	145	5 delegate any responsibility for determining the eligibility of
146	146	6 a student for an educational scholarship or any other
147	147	7 requirements it is subject to under this chapter to any
148	148	8 qualifying school or an entity affiliated therewith.
149	149	9 "f. Ensure that at least 95 percent of their revenue
150	150	10 from donations is expended on educational scholarships, and
151	151	11 that all revenue from interest or investments is expended on
152	152	12 educational scholarships. A scholarship granting organization
153	153	13 may expend up to five percent of its revenue from donations on
154	154	14 administrative and operating expenses in the calendar year of
155	155	15 the donation or in any subsequent calendar year.
156	156	16 "g. Ensure that scholarship funds on hand at the
157	157	17 beginning of a calendar year are expended on educational
158	158	18 scholarships by the end of the academic year ending within the
159	159	19 next succeeding calendar year within three calendar years. Any
160	160	20 scholarship funds on hand at the beginning of a calendar year
161	161	21 that are not expended on educational scholarships by the end
162	162	22 of the academic year ending within the next succeeding
163	163	23 calendar year within three calendar years shall be turned over
164	164	24 to and deposited with the State Department of Education for
165	165	25 the benefit of its At-Risk Student Program to be distributed
166	166	26 to local boards of education on the basis determined by the
167	167	Page 6 1 State Department of Education in furtherance of support to
168	168	2 underperforming schools.
169	169	3 "h. Ensure that at least 75 percent of first-time
170	170	4 recipients of educational scholarships were not continuously
171	171	5 enrolled in a private school during the previous academic
172	172	6 year.
173	173	7 "i. Cooperate with the Department of Revenue to
174	174	8 conduct criminal background checks on all of their employees
175	175	9 and board members and exclude from employment or governance
176	176	10 any individual who may reasonably pose a risk to the
177	177	11 appropriate use of contributed funds.
178	178	12 "j. Ensure that educational scholarships are
179	179	13 portable during the academic year and can be used at any
180	180	14 qualifying school that accepts the eligible student according
181	181	15 to the wishes of the parent. If an eligible student transfers
182	182	16 to another qualifying school during an academic year, the
183	183	17 educational scholarship amount may be prorated.
184	184	18 "k. Publicly report to the Department of Revenue by
185	185	19 September 1 of each year all of the following information
186	186	20 prepared by a certified public accountant regarding their
187	187	21 educational scholarships funded in the previous academic year:
188	188	22 "1. The name and address of the scholarship granting
189	189	23 organization.
190	190	24 "2. The total number and total dollar amount of
191	191	25 contributions received during the previous academic year.
192	192	26 "3. The total number and total dollar amount of
193	193	27 educational scholarships awarded and funded during the
194	194	Page 7 1 previous academic year, the total number and total dollar
195	195	2 amount of educational scholarships awarded and funded during
196	196	3 the previous academic year for students qualifying for the
197	197	4 federal free and reduced-price lunch program, and the
198	198	5 percentage of first-time recipients of educational
199	199	6 scholarships who were enrolled in a public school during the
200	200	7 previous academic year.
201	201	8 "l. Publicly report to the Department of Revenue, by
202	202	9 the 15th day after the close of each calendar quarter, all of
203	203	10 the following information about educational scholarships
204	204	11 granted during the quarter:
205	205	12 "1. The total number of scholarships awarded and
206	206	13 funded.
207	207	14 "2. The names of the qualifying schools that
208	208	15 received funding for educational scholarships, the total
209	209	16 amount of funds paid to each qualifying school, and the total
210	210	17 number of scholarship recipients enrolled in each qualifying
211	211	18 school.
212	212	19 "3. The total number of eligible students zoned to
213	213	20 attend a failing school who received educational scholarships
214	214	21 from the scholarship granting organization.
215	215	22 "4. The total number of first time scholarship
216	216	23 recipients who were continuously enrolled in a nonpublic
217	217	24 school prior to receiving an educational scholarship from that
218	218	25 scholarship granting organization.
219	219	26 "m. Ensure that educational scholarships are not
220	220	27 provided for eligible students to attend a school with paid
221	221	Page 8 1 staff or board members, or relatives thereof, in common with
222	222	2 the scholarship granting organization.
223	223	3 "n. Ensure that educational scholarships are
224	224	4 provided in a manner that does not discriminate based on the
225	225	5 gender, race, or disability status of the scholarship
226	226	6 applicant or his or her parent.
227	227	7 "o. Ensure that educational scholarships are
228	228	8 provided only to eligible students who are zoned to attend a
229	229	9 failing school so that the eligible student can attend a
230	230	10 qualifying school. To ensure compliance with the immediately
231	231	11 preceding sentence, the local board of education for the
232	232	12 county or municipality in which an eligible student applying
233	233	13 for an educational scholarship resides, upon written request
234	234	14 by a parent, shall provide written verification that a
235	235	15 particular address is in the attendance zone of a specified
236	236	16 public school. The State Department of Education shall provide
237	237	17 written verification of enrollment in a failing school under
238	238	18 this chapter. With respect to first time educational
239	239	19 scholarship recipients, scholarship granting organizations
240	240	20 shall give priority to eligible students zoned to attend
241	241	21 failing schools over eligible students not zoned to attend
242	242	22 failing schools. Any scholarship funds unaccounted for on July
243	243	23 31st of each calendar year may be made available to eligible
244	244	24 students to defray the costs of attending a qualifying school,
245	245	25 whether or not the student is zoned to attend a failing
246	246	26 school. Any provision of this section to the contrary
247	247	27 notwithstanding, once an eligible student receives an
248	248	Page 9 1 educational scholarship under this program, scholarship funds
249	249	2 may be made available to the student for educational
250	250	3 scholarships until the student graduates from high school or
251	251	4 reaches 19 years of age, regardless of whether the student is
252	252	5 zoned to attend a failing school, subject to the income
253	253	6 eligibility requirements of paragraph b. of subdivision (4) of
254	254	7 Section 16-6D-4.
255	255	8 "p. Ensure that no donations are directly made to
256	256	9 benefit specifically designated scholarship recipients or to
257	257	10 particular qualifying schools.
258	258	11 "q. Submit to the Department of Revenue annual
259	259	12 verification of the scholarship granting organization's
260	260	13 policies and procedures used to determine scholarship
261	261	14 eligibility. The verification shall confirm that the
262	262	15 scholarship granting organization, and not one or more
263	263	16 qualifying schools accepting educational scholarship
264	264	17 recipients or scholarship funds, is determining whether
265	265	18 scholarship applicants are eligible to receive educational
266	266	19 scholarships. The verification shall also confirm that the
267	267	20 scholarship granting organization is giving priority to
268	268	21 receive an educational scholarship to eligible students zoned
269	269	22 to attend failing schools.
270	270	23 "r. Submit to the Department of Revenue annual
271	271	24 verification that none of its actions or policies restricts a
272	272	25 parent's educational choice by limiting or prohibiting the
273	273	26 enrollment of eligible students in a qualifying school if
274	274	Page 10 1 those eligible students received educational scholarships from
275	275	2 other scholarship granting organizations.
276	276	3 "(2) FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS.
277	277	4 "a. All scholarship granting organizations shall
278	278	5 demonstrate their financial accountability by doing all of the
279	279	6 following:
280	280	7 "1. Annually submitting to the Department of Revenue
281	281	8 a financial information report for the scholarship granting
282	282	9 organization that complies with uniform financial accounting
283	283	10 standards established by the Department of Revenue and
284	284	11 conducted by a certified public accountant.
285	285	12 "2. Having the auditor certify that the report is
286	286	13 free of material misstatements.
287	287	14 "b. All qualifying nonpublic schools shall
288	288	15 demonstrate financial viability, if they are to receive
289	289	16 donations of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more during
290	290	17 the academic year, by doing either of the following:
291	291	18 "1. Filing with the scholarship granting
292	292	19 organization prior to receipt of the first educational
293	293	20 scholarship payment for that academic year a surety bond
294	294	21 payable to the scholarship granting organization in an amount
295	295	22 equal to the aggregate amount of scholarship funds expected to
296	296	23 be received during the academic year.
297	297	24 "2. Filing with the scholarship granting
298	298	25 organization prior to receipt of the first educational
299	299	26 scholarship payment for that academic year financial
300	300	Page 11 1 information that demonstrates the financial viability of the
301	301	2 qualifying nonpublic school.
302	302	3 "(c)(1) Each scholarship granting organization shall
303	303	4 annually collect and submit to the Department of Revenue with
304	304	5 the annual report required by paragraph k. of subdivision (1)
305	305	6 of subsection (b) written verification from qualifying
306	306	7 nonpublic schools that accept its educational scholarship
307	307	8 students that those schools do all of the following:
308	308	9 "a. Comply with all health and safety laws or codes
309	309	10 that otherwise apply to nonpublic schools.
310	310	11 "b. Hold a valid occupancy permit if required by the
311	311	12 municipality.
312	312	13 "c. Certify compliance with nondiscrimination
313	313	14 policies set forth in 42 U.S.C. 1981.
314	314	15 "d. Conduct criminal background checks on employees
315	315	16 and then do all of the following:
316	316	17 "1. Exclude from employment any person not permitted
317	317	18 by state law to work in a public school.
318	318	19 "2. Exclude from employment any person who may
319	319	20 reasonably pose a threat to the safety of students.
320	320	21 "(2) By August 1 of each year, each qualifying
321	321	22 nonpublic school shall provide to each scholarship granting
322	322	23 organization from which it receives educational scholarships
323	323	24 verification that the qualifying nonpublic school is in
324	324	25 compliance with the Alabama Child Protection Act of 1999,
325	325	26 Chapter 22A of this title. Any qualifying nonpublic school
326	326	27 failing to timely provide such annual verification shall be
327	327	Page 12 1 prohibited from participating in the scholarship program. Each
328	328	2 scholarship granting organization shall annually submit to the
329	329	3 Department of Revenue with the annual report required by
330	330	4 paragraph k. of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) copies of
331	331	5 the written verifications it receives from each qualifying
332	332	6 nonpublic school.
333	333	7 "(3) ACADEMIC ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS. There shall
334	334	8 be sufficient information about the academic impact
335	335	9 educational scholarship tax credits have on students
336	336	10 participating in the tax credit scholarship program in order
337	337	11 to allow parents and taxpayers to measure the achievements of
338	338	12 the tax credit scholarship program, and therefore:
339	339	13 "a. Each scholarship granting organization shall
340	340	14 ensure that qualifying schools that accept its educational
341	341	15 scholarship students shall do all of the following:
342	342	16 "1. Annually administer either the state achievement
343	343	17 tests or nationally recognized norm-referenced tests that
344	344	18 measure learning gains in math and language arts to all
345	345	19 students receiving an educational scholarship in grades that
346	346	20 require testing under the accountability testing laws of the
347	347	21 state for public schools, in order that the state can compare
348	348	22 the academic achievement and learning gains of students
349	349	23 receiving educational scholarships with students of the same
350	350	24 socioeconomic and educational backgrounds who are taking the
351	351	25 state achievement tests or nationally norm-referenced tests.
352	352	Page 13 1 "2. Allow the costs of the testing requirement to be
353	353	2 covered by the educational scholarships distributed by the
354	354	3 scholarship granting organizations.
355	355	4 "3. Provide the parents of each student who was
356	356	5 tested with a copy of the results of the tests on an annual
357	357	6 basis, beginning with the first year of testing.
358	358	7 "4. Provide the test results to the Department of
359	359	8 Revenue on an annual basis, beginning with the first year of
360	360	9 testing.
361	361	10 "5. Report student information that allows the state
362	362	11 to aggregate data by grade level, gender, family income level,
363	363	12 and race.
364	364	13 "6. Provide graduation rates of those students
365	365	14 benefitting from education educational scholarships to the
366	366	15 Department of Revenue or an organization chosen by the state
367	367	16 in a manner consistent with nationally recognized standards.
368	368	17 "7. Ensure that a student who receives an
369	369	18 educational scholarship conforms to the attendance
370	370	19 requirements of the qualifying school. If a student fails to
371	371	20 conform, the qualifying school shall immediately communicate
372	372	21 the failure to the applicable scholarship granting
373	373	22 organization.
374	374	23 "b.1. The Department of Revenue shall select an
375	375	24 independent research organization, which may be a public or
376	376	25 private entity or university, to analyze the results of the
377	377	26 testing required by paragraph a. every other academic year.
378	378	27 The cost of analyzing and reporting on the test results to the
379	379	Page 14 1 Department of Revenue by the independent research organization
380	380	2 shall be borne by all scholarship granting organizations in
381	381	3 proportion to the total scholarship donations received for the
382	382	4 two calendar years prior to the report being published.
383	383	5 Scholarship granting organizations may receive and use funds
384	384	6 from outside sources to pay for its share of the biennial
385	385	7 report.
386	386	8 "2. The independent research organization shall
387	387	9 report to the Department of Revenue every other year on the
388	388	10 learning gains of students receiving educational scholarships
389	389	11 and the report shall be aggregated by the grade level, gender,
390	390	12 family income level, number of years of participation in the
391	391	13 tax credit scholarship program, and race of the student
392	392	14 receiving an educational scholarship. The report shall also
393	393	15 include, to the extent possible, a comparison of the learning
394	394	16 gains of students participating in the tax credit scholarship
395	395	17 program to the statewide learning gains of public school
396	396	18 students with socioeconomic and educational backgrounds
397	397	19 similar to those students participating in the tax credit
398	398	20 scholarship program.
399	399	21 "3. The first report under this paragraph shall be
400	400	22 submitted to the Department of Revenue by September 1, 2016.
401	401	23 Each biennial report thereafter shall be submitted to the
402	402	24 Department of Revenue on September 1 of the year the report is
403	403	25 due. All biennial reports required by this paragraph shall be
404	404	26 published on the website of the Department of Revenue.
405	405	Page 15 1 "4. Each scholarship granting organization shall
406	406	2 collect all test results from qualifying schools accepting its
407	407	3 scholarship recipients and turn over such test results to the
408	408	4 independent research organization described in this paragraph
409	409	5 by August 15 of each calendar year.
410	410	6 "5. The sharing and reporting of student learning
411	411	7 gain data under this paragraph shall conform to the
412	412	8 requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,
413	413	9 20 U.S.C. § 1232g., and shall be for the sole purpose of
414	414	10 creating the biennial report required by this paragraph. All
415	415	11 parties shall preserve the confidentially of such information
416	416	12 as required by law. The biennial report shall not disaggregate
417	417	13 data to a level that could identify qualifying schools
418	418	14 participating in the tax credit scholarship program or
419	419	15 disclose the academic level of individual students.
420	420	16 "6. At the same time the biennial report under
421	421	17 paragraph 2 subparagraph 2. is submitted to the Department of
422	422	18 Revenue, it shall be submitted to the Chair of the Senate
423	423	19 Education Policy Committee and the Chair of the House
424	424	20 Education Policy Committee.
425	425	21 "(d)(1) The Department of Revenue shall adopt rules
426	426	22 and procedures consistent with this section as necessary.
427	427	23 "(2) The Department of Revenue shall provide a
428	428	24 standardized format for a receipt to be issued by a
429	429	25 scholarship granting organization to a taxpayer to indicate
430	430	26 the value of a contribution received. The Department of
431	431	Page 16 1 Revenue shall require a taxpayer to provide a copy of the
432	432	2 receipt when claiming the tax credit pursuant to this section.
433	433	3 "(3) The Department of Revenue shall provide a
434	434	4 standardized format for a scholarship granting organization to
435	435	5 report the information required in paragraphs k. and l. of
436	436	6 subdivision (1) of subsection (b).
437	437	7 "(4) The Department of Revenue may conduct either a
438	438	8 financial review or audit of a scholarship granting
439	439	9 organization.
440	440	10 "(5) The Department of Revenue may bar a scholarship
441	441	11 granting organization or a qualifying school from
442	442	12 participating in the tax credit scholarship program if the
443	443	13 Department of Revenue establishes that the scholarship
444	444	14 granting organization or the qualifying school has
445	445	15 intentionally and substantially failed to comply with the
446	446	16 requirements in subsection (b) or subsection (c).
447	447	17 "(6) If the Department of Revenue decides to bar a
448	448	18 scholarship granting organization or a qualifying school from
449	449	19 the tax credit scholarship program, the Department of Revenue
450	450	20 shall notify affected educational scholarship students and
451	451	21 their parents of the decision as quickly as possible.
452	452	22 "(7) The Department of Revenue shall publish and
453	453	23 routinely update, on the website of the department, a list of
454	454	24 scholarship granting organizations in the state, by county.
455	455	25 "(8) The Department of Revenue shall publish and
456	456	26 make publicly available on its website all annual and
457	457	27 quarterly reports required to be filed with it by scholarship
458	458	Page 17 1 granting organizations under paragraphs k. and l. of
459	459	2 subdivision (1) of subsection (b).
460	460	3 "(e)(1) All schools participating in the tax credit
461	461	4 scholarship program shall be required to operate in Alabama.
462	462	5 "(2) All schools participating in the tax credit
463	463	6 scholarship program shall comply with all state laws that
464	464	7 apply to public schools regarding criminal background checks
465	465	8 for employees and exclude from employment any person not
466	466	9 permitted by state law to work in a public school.
467	467	10 "(3) All qualifying nonpublic schools participating
468	468	11 in the tax credit scholarship program shall maintain a website
469	469	12 that describes the school, the instructional program of the
470	470	13 school, and the tuition and mandatory fees charged by the
471	471	14 school, updated prior to the beginning of each semester.
472	472	15 "(4) The amount of a scholarship awarded a student
473	473	16 to attend a nonpublic school may not exceed the total sum of
474	474	17 tuition and mandatory fees normally charged a student to
475	475	18 attend the nonpublic school for the same attendance period.
476	476	19 The amount of a scholarship awarded a student to attend a
477	477	20 public school may not exceed the total state appropriation
478	478	21 provided for a student to attend the public school for the
479	479	22 same attendance period.
480	480	23 "(f) The tax credit provided in this section may be
481	481	24 first claimed for the 2013 tax year, but may not be claimed
482	482	25 for any tax year prior to the 2013 tax year.
483	483	26 "(g)(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed
484	484	27 to force any public school, school system, or school district
485	485	Page 18 1 or any nonpublic school, school system, or school district to
486	486	2 enroll any student. No qualifying school may enter into any
487	487	3 agreement, whether oral or written, with a scholarship
488	488	4 granting organization that would prohibit or limit an eligible
489	489	5 student from enrolling in the school based on the identity of
490	490	6 the scholarship granting organization from which the eligible
491	491	7 student received an educational scholarship.
492	492	8 "(2) A public school, school system, or school
493	493	9 district or any nonpublic school, school system, or school
494	494	10 district may develop the terms and conditions under which it
495	495	11 will allow a student who receives a scholarship from a
496	496	12 scholarship granting organization pursuant to this section to
497	497	13 be enrolled, but such terms and conditions may not
498	498	14 discriminate on the basis of the race, gender, religion,
499	499	15 color, disability status, or ethnicity of the student or of
500	500	16 the student's parent.
501	501	17 "(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
502	502	18 authorize the violation of or supersede the authority of any
503	503	19 court ruling that applies to the public school, school system,
504	504	20 or school district, specifically any federal court order
505	505	21 related to the desegregation of the local school system's
506	506	22 student population.
507	507	23 "(h) Nothing in this chapter shall affect or change
508	508	24 the athletic eligibility rules of student athletes governed by
509	509	25 the Alabama High School Athletic Association or similar
510	510	26 association."
511	511	Page 19 1 Section 2. This act shall become effective
512	512	2 immediately following its passage and approval by the
513	513	3 Governor, or its otherwise becoming law, and shall apply
514	514	4 retroactively to tax years or periods beginning after December
515	515	5 31, 2021.
516	516	Page 20