LEGISLATION

Ohio

Lawmakers in Ohio have proposed a bill, HB 290, known as the “backpack bill,” that would consolidate the state’s existing voucher programs into one voucher program that is open to all Ohio K-12 students. The bill has been assigned to the Ohio House Finance Committee.

LITIGATION

Kentucky

On October 8, the Franklin County Circuit Court in Frankfort, Kentucky, issued an opinion finding that Education Opportunity Accounts, a new tax-credit funded education savings account program, is unconstitutional. The court held that the program wrongfully targets only particular locales and that the law must have a provision allowing for a vote of the people to accept this new legislation. The program is enjoined; it cannot be implemented until a higher court overturns this ruling. Appeal of this ruling is expected.

This case was filed by an association of almost all public school districts in Kentucky against the Commonwealth’s first in the nation tax-credit-funded education savings account, named Education Opportunity Accounts (EOA).
Council for Better Education v. Johnson, Franklin County Circuit Court, Case #21-CI-00461