Posted on 07/06/25
Baltimore, MD - July 5, 2025 - A gutte vuch / shavua tov! Hope you had a wonderful Shabbos.
Late yesterday afternoon, soon before the arrival of Shabbos, President Donald Trump signed into law the first-ever national scholarship tax credit program, as part of the federal budget reconciliation package, aka The One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
For those of us following the growth and expansion of school choice in states across the country, this exciting achievement provides a new and unprecedented opportunity in addressing the challenges presented by the tuition burden. As projected, this new proposal can generate millions of dollars for Jewish day school tuition to families in our community, and hundreds of millions to Jewish communities across the country.
The work that resulted in this historic achievement was the culmination of many years of networking and coalition-building with education leaders from an incredibly broad spectrum. I salute my colleagues in the Agudah's Washington office — Rabbi AD Motzen, Rabbi Yossie Charner, and Rabbi Avi Schnall — who, for the last many months, worked tirelessly with the key lawmakers and staff who were determined to pass a school choice proposal even before the current Congress came together. Their work, together with a small trusted group of stakeholders with whom the Agudah has worked so effectively, was key to the success of this initiative, despite numerous challenges throughout the process.
We appreciate all of those who "took action," sending emails or making calls to members of Congress each time they were asked. While many of those calls went to members who did not support the proposal (or the larger bill), it all helped grow and expand the broad base of support necessary for this to come together.
Beyond school choice, we are acutely aware of some of the concerns with other parts of the budget reconciliation bill — namely, the potential loss of Medicaid and SNAP benefits to community members. Our office is fielding calls, making connections, and learning more about what the impact may be and what can be done about it.
Please stay tuned to further information about the scholarship tax credit and other items of benefit, as well as those items of potential concern. Please feel free to email our office — office@agudahmd.org.