Felder Hosts Tuition Tax Credit Briefing for Yeshivos

State Sens. Simcha Felder and Marty Golden on Monday held what was termed an emergency briefing on the proposed tuition tax credit bill presently in the state legislature.

The Education Investment Incentives Act is a potentially historic bill that would allocate $150 million for education scholarships, half of which will be directed to private schools, and the other half going towards additional resources and programming for public schools.

“This is the first time in history that New York State has acknowledged that private schools need help,” Felder said. “Today we have an opportunity to ensure that help is given. The EIIA opens the door to providing that help.”

“We must make sure the governor and the Assembly uphold their promises to all New Yorkers. They must pass this bill,” Golden emphasized, “Senator Felder was the right man to lead this fight and to go to Albany for you. I am proud to have worked with him on this bill.”

The bill, which was passed in the Senate, was tweaked by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his own budget proposal. The amount was lowered to $100 million, among other changes.

The bill now makes its way through the Assembly.

“I have been working to get a bill like this passed for 30 years,” said James Cultrara, the Co-chair for the New York State Coalition for Independent and Religious Schools. “Please, make sure it doesn’t take 31 years to get this done.”

This article appeared in print on page 34 of the February 25th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.