Bob Schaffer: “Thirty-two million new dollars in the State of Arizona as this program got up and running between 1998 and 2000. There…”

“Thirty-two million new dollars in the State of Arizona as this program got up and running between 1998 and 2000. There are more than 30 scholarship organizations that sprung up as a result of this tax credit bill, and those scholarship organizations made it possible for 19,000 students to receive scholarships and go to the schools that they chose, not the schools that the government told them they have to go to or schools not meeting their needs. Instead, these 19,000 students went to schools that they picked, that their parents selected, based on what was most suitable for their children. Here is the most interesting statistic, because it addresses the criticism that some have of a tax credit proposal. This answers the question of whether these dollars are headed to children who have the greatest need. In Arizona, according to the study, more than 80 percent of the scholarship recipients were selected on the basis of financial need. That is certainly true in Arizona. It has been studied over and again. It is also true in Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, in a handful of other States that have enacted similar legislation, Minnesota, Iowa. Those are the 6. These tax credit proposals have been attempted in over 30 States throughout the country, and they generate bipartisan support.”