Smith Leads Bicameral Effort to Expand Educational Opportunities

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE-03), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, led a bicameral group of his colleagues in introducing the Educational Opportunities Expansion Package, two bills to strengthen his Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, a key provision of the Working Families Tax Cuts. The package aims to expand educational opportunities for students nationwide by removing the current state opt-in requirement and ensuring that scholarship donors are not restricted in their giving based on their marital status.

"My Federal Scholarship Tax Credit marked a critical victory for educational freedom nationwide. However, I know our work is not done. This is why I introduced my Educational Opportunities Expansion Packageto ensure students nationwide can reap the full benefits of these scholarships, while also protecting benefactors from penalties based on their marital status. I am grateful for the strong bicameral support of my colleagues, and I look forward to working together to build on our success," said Smith.

In addition to Smith, the legislation is co-led by U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI-05) and Burgess Owens (R-UT-04). U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

"Last year, Republicans' Working Families Tax Cutsbecame law, delivering the largest expansion of school choice in history. I support giving every family the opportunity to benefit, providing parents with greater flexibility to choose the educational environment that best supports their child's needs. All children deserve access to an education that helps them achieve the American Dream, no matter their background or address,"said Chairman Walberg.

"Parents know what is right for their kids much better than any bureaucrat. I'm grateful for this legislation that strengthens school choice policies which puts parents in the driver's seat of their child's education and ensures the student can receive the education they deserve,"said Owens.

"As parents, we know our children better than anyone. When we put parents in charge of their child's education, we give children the best opportunity to thrive,"said Dr. Cassidy."Another win for School Choice!"

The Educational Opportunities Expansion Packageis supported by the American Federation for Children, Invest in Education Coalition, Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Coalition Steering Committee, Ed Choice, and Agudath Israel of America.

"The Federal Scholarship Tax Credithas created an unprecedented opportunity to open the doors of education to nearly 52 million children nationwide. We are grateful to Rep. Adrian Smith for his tireless work in passing the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit last year and are pleased to support the Educational Opportunities Expansion Packagewhich makes targeted, common-sense improvements that will allow more children and families to be served in all 50 states. We look forward to continuing to work with Rep. Smith on ways to bring resources to families through this historic new opportunity,"said American Federation for Children Director of Federal Affairs Ashling Preston.

"Thank you, Congressman Adrian Smith, for your leadership in introducing the Educational Opportunities Expansion Package to expand access to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program. These two bills will help make this program accessible to all students in public and non-public schools across the country while opening the door for more private dollars to be invested in the program. This historic program has the potential to provide life-changing scholarships to families who need them most, helping ensure more children have access to the educational opportunities and resources they need to succeed. We are grateful for Congressman Smith's leadership in working to expand the reach and impact of this important program,"said Invest in Education Coalition Chairman Tony de Nicola.

"The 50 State Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Coalition is grateful to Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) for his leadership on the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit.As the House sponsor of this legislation, Congressman Smith helped shepherd this policy into the Working Families Tax Cut Act. Today, we support Congressman Smith's Educational Opportunities Expansion Package to ensure married couples filing jointly can both give to scholarship granting organizations and to remove the onerous 'opt-in' provision. These changes will greatly improve the tax credit, allowing significantly more K-12 students to benefit,"said Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Coalition Steering Committee Members Jim Blew and John Schilling.

"Ed Choice, the legacy foundation of Milton and Rose Friedman, is thrilled that Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) has put forward a proposal to greatly improve the federal scholarship tax credit program. By proposing to remove the burdensome 'opt-in' provision and allow couples filing jointly to both support scholarship granting organizations, more kids will be served, and the program will become stronger than ever. As one of the nation's most respected voices for universal choice, we believe that all children should be free to use all educational options with all the resources available to them. This bill gets us closer to that goal,"said Ed Choice President & CEO Robert Enlow.

"Agudath Israel of America thanks Rep. Adrian Smith (R - NE) for sponsoring a pair of bills that make the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit included in the One Big Beautiful Bill even better. Requiring states to opt in to the federal scholarship credit was added at the last minute and never envisioned by Congress. While we are hopeful that every state will ultimately opt in so that their students can benefit from the billions of dollars in new scholarship opportunities, Rep. Smith's proposal removes unnecessary state entanglement in a federal benefit. The second bill clarifies that married couples who share a passion for helping students and each donate $1700 to a scholarship organization will not be penalized simply because they file a shared tax return. Agudath Israel of America urges Congress to advance both important pieces of legislation,"said Agudath Israel of America National Director of Government Affairs Rabbi A.D. Motzen.

BACKGROUND:

The Educational Opportunities Expansion Package includes two bills aimed at expanding access to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit and restoring Congressional intent following changes made during the Senate parliamentarian's review of the 2025 reconciliation.

• H.R. 10412: Would repeal the state opt-in requirement for theFederal Scholarship Tax Credit, ensuring that every student has access to its scholarship opportunities regardless of their zip code. Click here to read the full text of H.R. 10412.
  
• HR 10413: Would ensure that married taxpayers are not at a disadvantage by allowing them to claim the tax credit up to an amount that is double the cap for individual filers. Click hereto read the full text of H.R. 10413.