SESSION OF 2025
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 75
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Education
Brief*
SB 75, as amended, would establish an education
opportunity tax credit for taxpayers who have eligible,
dependent children not enrolled in a public K-12 school.
Tax Credits
Tax Credit Applicability
Beginning for tax year 2025, the bill would provide a
refundable Education Opportunity Tax Credit against an
individual’s Kansas income tax liability for each dependent
child an individual who that is eligible to be enrolled in
kindergarten through grade 12 in a Kansas public school but
is instead enrolled full-time in either an accredited or
nonaccredited private school.
The tax credit would be an amount equal to the
expenditures directly attributable to the the tuition and related
costs required for attendance at a private school, including
the cost of books, materials, and equipment. For each
taxpayer, the credit would be capped at $8,000 per
dependent child enrolled in an accredited private school
within the state or $4,000 per dependent child enrolled in a
nonaccredited school.
[Note: The bill would require the accredited private
school attended by an individual’s dependent to be either
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
https://klrd.gov/ accredited by the State Board of Education (Board) or an
accrediting agency recognized by the Board, or is working
towards such accreditation in good faith for purposes for
receiving up to the $8,000 credit.]
The bill would authorize an individual receiving an
Education Opportunity Tax Credit to claim the tax credit either
in advance during the tax year or claim the credit on their
annual income tax forms. Should the tax credit exceed the
amount of taxes owed by the individual taxpayer, the taxpayer
would receive the difference as a tax refund.
Tax Credit Cap and Administration
The bill would establish an annual program cap of $125
million in tax credits beginning in tax year 2025. Should the
tax credits claimed meet or exceed 90.0 percent of the
maximum amount of credits for that tax year, the bill would
increase the annual program cap by 25.0 percent for the
following tax year. Should applications exceed the available
tax credits, the bill would require the Kansas Department of
Revenue (KDOR) to prioritize taxpayers who have previously
received the credit.
Taxpayers seeking to claim an Education Opportunity
Tax Credit would also be required by the bill to provide valid
Social Security numbers of each dependent being claimed.
The taxpayer would not be eligible to claim the tax credit for
any child receiving a scholarship under the Tax Credit for Low
Income Students Scholarship Program.
The bill would exempt Education Opportunity Tax
Credits from being considered as income under the Kansas
Income Tax Act should the federal government consider the
tax credit as income.
The bill would require KDOR to submit an annual report
to the Legislature on or before January 15 of each year on
the Education Opportunity Tax Credit for the second
2- 75 preceding year. The bill would require each such report to
include, but not be limited to, the total amount of credits
claimed and any information on known fraudulent claims for
the credit.
Penalties
The bill would make any individual who intentionally files
a false claim for the Education Opportunity Tax Credit or
receives said credit without sending their dependents to a
private school subject to civil penalties prescribed in KSA 79-
3228(e), which includes a penalty equal to the unpaid
balance of tax due, plus interest, and, if convicted, a fine of
no more than $1,000, imprisonment in a county jail for
between 30 and 365 days, or both.
Legal Proceedings
Should the law prescribed in the bill be challenged in
court, the bill would put the burden of proof on the State to
establish that the law is necessary and does not impose any
undue burden on the taxpayer. The bill would also authorize
individuals receiving the Education Opportunity Tax Credit to
intervene in any lawsuits against the bill for the purposes of
defending the tax credit program’s constitutionality.
If any provision or clause of the bill to any person or
circumstance is held invalid, the bill would state the invalidity
would not affect other provisions or applications of the bill that
could be given effect without the invalid provision or
application. The provisions of the bill would be severable.
Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Education at the request of Senator Erickson.
3- 75 Senate Committee on Education
In the Senate Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by representatives of the Catholic Diocese of
Wichita, Central Christian School, Kansas Policy Institute,
and Maranatha Christian Academy, and by five private
citizens. The proponents generally stated that the bill would
give Kansas families more choice in where and how they
educate their children.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of Americans for Prosperity Kansas,
Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, Kansas Catholic
Conference, Kansas Chamber, Kansas Family Voice,
Maranatha Christian Academy, Urban Preparatory Academy,
and Yes. Every Kid., and by a private citizen.
Opponent testimony was provided by Representative
Poskin; representatives of Game On for Kansas Schools,
Kansas Association of School Boards, Kansas Interfaith
Action, Kansas PTA, and Mainstream Coalition; and three
private citizens. The opponents generally stated that the bill
would divert public funds to private schools and private
education.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by
representatives of the American Federation of Teachers
Kansas, Kansas National Education Association, Kansas
State Board of Education, Olathe Public Schools, and Stand
Up Blue Valley: Families for Our Schools, and by 50 private
citizens.
No other testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to do the
following:
●Make the tax credits an amount equal to the
expenditures directly attributable to the tuition and
related costs required for attendance at a private
4- 75 school with the credits not exceeding the $4,000 or
$8,000 caps rather than $8,000 for each
dependent child enrolled full time in a private
school or $4,000 for each dependent child enrolled
full time in a nonaccredited private school;
●Remove language allowing KDOR to consult with
the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE)
for the purpose of determining whether a child of a
claimant is enrolled in a public school during the
tax year for which the credit is claimed; and
●Remove language stating a claimant of the tax
credit acknowledges that KDOR may consult with
and receive information from the State Department
of Education regarding public school enrollment of
any dependent children.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget (DOB) on the bill, as introduced, KDOR estimates
that the maximum credits allowed in the bill, $125.0 million,
would be claimed during fax year 2025. The estimate is
based upon student count data from KSDE showing that the
number of accredited private school students, without
factoring in non-accredited private school students, multiplied
by the amounts of the credit would exceed the total amount of
tax credits allowed by the bill ($8,000 x 26,396 students =
$211,160,000). Furthermore, KDOR estimates that the cap
would increase pursuant to the bill and that all of the $156.3
million of tax credits for tax year 2026 would likely be claimed.
Due to the overlap of tax years and fiscal years, KDOR
estimates that for FY 2026 revenues to the State General
Fund (SGF) would be reduced by $281.3 million, including
$125.0 million for tax year 2025 and $156.3 million for tax
year 2026. KDOR states that since the tax credit could be
claimed at any time, the fiscal effect of both tax year 2025
and tax year 2026 would be anticipated to be experienced in
5- 75 FY 2026. KDOR also estimates a $195.4 million reduction in
revenues to the SGF for FY 2027 and a $244.1 million
reduction in revenues to the SGF for FY 2028.
KDOR indicates that it would require $271,306 from
SGF in FY 2026 to implement the bill and modify the
automated tax system and 1.0 FTE to answer questions from
taxpayers and to assist with the administration of the new
program. The 1.0 FTE would be ongoing and KDOR
estimates an ongoing expense of $72,181 in SGF for FY
2027. Required programming for this bill would be performed
by existing staff of KDOR. However, KDOR states that if the
combined effect of implementing this bill and other enacted
legislation exceeds the agency’s programming resources
then additional resources would be required to contract
outside programming services.
DOB estimates that some parents currently using the
Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program
would likely stop utilizing the program in order to utilize the
Educational Opportunity Tax Credit. KSDE further notes that if
participation in the tax credit scholarship program declines,
the amount of tax credits claimed under the program could
also change.
The Department of Administration indicates that
adjusting state income tax collections has the potential to
have a fiscal effect on the amount of revenue collected from
its debt setoff program which intercepts individual income tax
refunds and homestead tax refunds and applies the amounts
to debts owed to state agencies, municipalities, district courts,
and state agencies in other states.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is
not reflected in The FY 2026 Governor’s Budget Report.
Education; K-12 Education; income tax; tax credit; accredited private school;
nonaccredited private school
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