Trent Franks: “The single most important difference between vouchers and tax credits is the fact that with the tax credit, all of the…”

“The single most important difference between vouchers and tax credits is the fact that with the tax credit, all of the contributions that go into the system are entirely voluntary and they never go through government coffers. Now, you say, well, that is a simple difference; but it creates all kinds of ripple effects, all kinds of ancillary differences. For instance, those people who are concerned that if they send their child to, say, a faith-based school down the block and that if they send them with a voucher that somehow the scary, insidious hand of government will come in and tell them to take down their cross or Star of David or whatever the case might be. Under the scholarship tax credit approach they would have very little to worry about because there is simply no connection to government in that regard. The moneys go into a private charity, which 90 percent of those moneys then go to the scholarship for the child. When you consider the expenditures there, there is a significant difference. I mean, about 56, 55 percent of our dollars that come appropriated from this body go into the classroom; but overwhelmingly, when people contribute on the private scholarship tax credit, about 90 percent of those go directly for tuition of the child.”