Governor John Lynch has vetoed a bill that would create a tax credit for businesses donating to not-for-profit scholarship organizations.
In his veto messageGovernor Lynch said the proposed bill would siphon public money away from public schools and give it to private ones. He said the budget gaps the plan would create would have to be covered by increases in local property taxes.
The bill’s supporters - including its prime sponsor, Republican Senator Jim Forsythe of Strafford - dispute the Governor’s claims. They say the bill would provide low-income students with more choice of where to go to school. He points out the bill passed both the House and Senate with enough votesto override the governor’s veto.
Forsythe: I haven’t seen anybody changing their minds, if anything support has been firming up.
The republican dominated legislature made the tax credit scholarship plan a priority for during this last session.
Critics – mainly democrats – call the plan a roundabout attempt to create voucher system.