Education Action Alert
March 8, 2001
EDUCATION REPORT ON HB 271
Background:
Passage of HB 271, the corporate
tax scholarship bill, occurred Thursday, March 8 by a vote of 71-46. The vote
primarily was along party lines with most Republican members supporting the legislation
and Democrat members opposing the bill. However, several Republicans broke party
ranks to vote against the bill.
The bill will be forwarded to the Florida Senate for consideration. HB 271 is
strongly supported by the Florida Catholic Conference because the bill is based on
providing financial assistance to lower-income families, regardless of the school system
their children attend.
The Conference has advocated for the bill language based on financial need, not what
school system children attend, because lower-income families make great financial
sacrifices to place their children in Catholic and other nonpublic schools.
HB 271 specifies that corporations obtain a tax credit for making a
contribution in the form of a scholarship to a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) Scholarship
Granting Organization (SGO). The SGO then distributes the scholarships up to
$4,000 so lower-income parents have the financial assistance for their children to begin
attending or continue attending the schools of their choice.
Action Needed: Please email, write or call your Representative.
Please refer to the vote information at the end of this alert to see who voted when
the bill was taken up before the full House on March 8, 2001.
Please express your appreciation to the
Representatives who voted YES.
Please share your concerns with the
Representatives who voted NO.
An e-mail link for House of
Representatives members is accessible at the end of this report.
CS/HB 271 vote information from the March 8, 2001 Journal of the House
of Representatives appears below:
Yeas-71
The Chair Bilirakis
Goodlette
Lynn
Alexander Bowen
Green
Mack
Allen Brown
Haridopolos
Mahon
Andrews Brummer
Harrell
Mayfield
Argenziano
Byrd Harrington Maygarden
Arza
Cantens Hart
Mealor
Attkisson Carassas
Hogan
Melvin
Atwater Davis
Johnson
Miller
Baker Diaz-Balart
Jordan
Murman
Ball
Dockery Kallinger
Needelman
Barreiro Farkas
Kilmer
Negron
Bean Fasano
Kottkamp
Paul
Bennett Flanagan
Kravitz
Pickens
Bense Garcia
Kyle
Prieguez
Benson Gardiner
Lacasa
Ross
Berfield Gibson
Littlefield Rubio
Russell Sorensen
Trovillion Waters
Simmons Spratt
Wallace
Nays-46
Ausley
Frankel Kendrick
Seiler
Bendross-Mindingall Gannon
Kosmas
Siplin
Betancourt Gelber
Lee
Slosberg
Brutus Gottlieb Lerner
Smith
Bucher
Greenstein Machek
Sobel
Bullard
Harper McGriff
Stansel
Clarke
Henriquez Meadows
Weissman
Crow Heyman
Peterman
Wiles
Cusack
Holloway Rich
Wilson
Detert
Jennings Richardson
Wishner
Fields
Joyner
Romeo
Fiorentino
Justice
Ryan
Votes after roll call:
Yeas-Diaz de la Portilla
So the bill passed, as amended, and was certified to the Senate.
Contact
Florida House Members
For more information, please contact Larry D. Keough, Associate
for Education, (850) 222- 3803 or lkeough@flacathconf.org