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Ferguson should opt in so Washington families can benefit
Treasury’s rules are out, and families can use the credit for tuition, tutoring and other costs—but Washington families need Ferguson to opt in before the program launches.
Gov. Bob Ferguson should opt Washington into the federal scholarship tax credit so families, not Olympia, decide where scholarship dollars go.
Chalkbeat reports that for students to benefit, governors of their states have to opt in on an annual basis and allow scholarship groups to operate1. The Treasury Department says taxpayers may contribute to an eligible scholarship organization regardless of their state of residence, so generosity does not stop at a state line2. The word that matters there is "participating."
The credit exists because Congress enacted it in 2025, and Treasury says it applies to taxable years ending after December 31, 20262. Ferguson holds the pen. Jewish groups have asked him to use it.
“This entire tax scheme”
The credit can support tutoring and tuition
The credit is a direct benefit to families, and the rules are specific. Eligible taxpayers may claim an annual credit of up to $1,700 for qualifying contributions, or up to $3,400 for married couples filing jointly, according to the Treasury Department2.
What the scholarships buy is what parents need: the Treasury regulations list eligible expenses "including private-school tuition, academic tutoring, special-needs services, books, supplies, computers and other equipment2."
- 2025Congress enacted the credit
- Oct. 1Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations
- January 1, 2027the program launches
Ferguson is still reviewing the rules
Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations on Oct. 1, along with temporary regulations covering the procedures for state elections. The program launches on January 1, 20272.
Reykdal wants Olympia to control scholarships
"This entire tax scheme" is how Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal describes the federal scholarship credit in a letter urging Ferguson to stay out, the Spokesman-Review reported Oct. 12. Reykdal says the program puts "public taxpayer dollars" behind school choice and that states get no say over which organizations qualify or who receives scholarships. He also warns that some groups may award money by religious affiliation in ways that could "conflict with our state's own nondiscrimination obligations."
That complaint, that Olympia gets no say, is the design. The proposed regulations would not permit participating states to impose scholarship-organization operating requirements more restrictive than those set in federal law2. Chalkbeat reports that New York's Hochul will not be able to pick which groups can or can't receive the funding, and the Democrat opted in anyway.
The "public taxpayer dollars" charge fails on the money itself. Treasury describes the credit as going to taxpayers who make cash contributions to scholarship organizations. A Democratic governor has answered the superintendent's central premise.
A family that spends its scholarship at a religious school is not violating a civil-rights rule. It is exercising a liberty with a century of precedent behind it. Who should decide where a family's scholarship goes: the family, or the superintendent's office? Reykdal has answered for his office, and Washington parents should answer for theirs.
Ferguson should file before the deadline
Washington would not be alone among Democrats. Chalkbeat reports that Hochul became the second Democrat, following Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, to opt in voluntarily. According to an IRS tracker, 30 other states have opted in1.
Several bishops thanked Hochul in a letter posted by the New York State Catholic Conference: "Rather than sending this money out of state, she has chosen to keep it in New York to help New York’s kids1."