Section 20-2003-B - Qualification and application by organizations.(a)Establishment.--In accordance with section 14 of article iii of the constitution of pennsylvania, the educational improvement and opportunity scholarship tax credit programs are hereby established to enhance the educational opportunities available to all students in this commonwealth.(b)Information.--In order to qualify under this article, an educational improvement organization, a scholarship organization, a pre-kindergarten scholarship organization or an opportunity scholarship organization must submit information to the department that enables the department to confirm that the organization is exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986.(c)Scholarship organizations and pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations.-- Scholarship organizations and pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations.--A scholarship organization or pre-kindergarten scholarship organization must certify to the department that the organization is eligible to participate in the educational improvement tax credit program established under this article and must agree to annually report the following information based on the immediately preceding fiscal year to the department by November 1 of each year: (1)For each fiscal year through the 2024-2025 fiscal year: (i) The number of scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible pre-kindergarten students. (ii) The total and average amounts of the scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible pre-kindergarten students.(iii) The number of scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades kindergarten through eight.(iv) The total and average amounts of the scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades kindergarten through eight.(v) The number of scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades nine through 12.(vi) The total and average amounts of the scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades nine through 12.(vii) Where the scholarship organization or pre-kindergarten scholarship organization collects information on a county-by-county basis, the total number and the total amount of scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to residents of each county in which the scholarship organization or pre-kindergarten scholarship organization awarded scholarships.(viii) The total number of scholarship applications processed and the amounts of any application fees charged, either per scholarship application or in the aggregate through a third-party processor.(ix) The organization's federal form 990 or other federal form indicating the tax status of the organization for federal tax purposes, if any, and a copy of a compilation, review or audit of the organization's financial statements conducted by a certified public accounting firm.(1.1) For the 2025-2026 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter:(i) For each scholarship award given to an applicant:(A) An indicator of whether the applicant was an eligible student or an eligible student with a disability.(B) An indicator of whether the applicant was in grades kindergarten through eight or grades nine through 12.(C) The dollar amount of the scholarship award.(D) For the year in which the scholarship award was used:(I) The name of the applicant's school district of residence.(II) The name of the school entity that the applicant attended.(ii) The information provided under subparagraph (i) shall not include personally identifiable information. (2) The information required under paragraphs (1) and (1.1) shall be submitted on a form provided by the department. No later than September 1 of each year, the department shall annually distribute such sample forms, together with the forms on which the reports are required to be made, to each listed scholarship organization and pre-kindergarten scholarship organization.(2.1) Beginning with the annual report due November 1, 2026, the department shall annually post the information required under paragraph (1.1) in a downloadable spreadsheet on the department's publicly accessible Internet website. (3) The department may not require any other information to be provided by scholarship organizations or pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations, except as expressly authorized in this article.(d)Educational improvement organization.-- (1) An application submitted by an educational improvement organization must describe its proposed innovative educational program or programs in a form prescribed by the department. The department shall consult with the department of education as necessary. The department shall review and approve or disapprove the application. In order to be eligible to participate in the educational improvement tax credit program established under this article, an educational improvement organization must agree to annually report the following information to the department by November 1 of each year: (i) The name of the innovative educational program or programs and the total amount of the grant or grants made to those programs during the immediately preceding school year.(ii) A description of how each grant was utilized during the immediately preceding school year and a description of any demonstrated or expected innovative educational improvements.(iii) The names of the public schools and school districts where innovative educational programs that received grants during the immediately preceding school year were implemented.(iv) Where the educational improvement organization collects information on a county-by-county basis, the total number and the total amount of grants made during the immediately preceding school year for programs at public schools in each county in which the educational improvement organization made grants.(v) The organization's federal form 990 or other federal form indicating the tax status of the organization for federal tax purposes, if any, and a copy of a compilation, review or audit of the organization's financial statements conducted by a certified public accounting firm.(2) The information required under paragraph (1) shall be submitted on a form provided by the department. No later than September 1 of each year, the department shall annually distribute such sample forms, together with the forms on which the reports are required to be made, to each listed educational improvement organization.(2.1) The department shall annually post the information required under paragraph (1)(i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) in a downloadable spreadsheet on the department's publicly accessible Internet website. (3) The department may not require any other information to be provided by educational improvement organizations, except as expressly authorized in this article.(d.1)Opportunity scholarship organizations.-- (1) An opportunity scholarship organization must enhance the educational opportunities available to students in this commonwealth by providing opportunity scholarships to eligible students who reside within the attendance boundary of low-achieving schools to attend schools which are not low-achieving schools and which are not public schools within the eligible student's school district of residence. By february 15 of each year, an opportunity scholarship organization must certify to the department that the organization is eligible to participate in the opportunity scholarship tax credit program.(2) For each fiscal year through the 2024-2025 fiscal year, an opportunity scholarship organization must agree to report the following information on a form provided by the department by November 1 of each year:(i) The total number of applications for opportunity scholarships received during the immediately preceding school year from eligible students in grades kindergarten through eight.(ii) The number of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades kindergarten through eight.(iii) The total and average amounts of the opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades kindergarten through eight.(iv) The total number of applications for opportunity scholarships received during the immediately preceding school year from eligible students in grades nine through 12.(v) The number of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades nine through 12.(vi) The total and average amounts of the opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to eligible students in grades nine through 12.(vii) Where the opportunity scholarship organization collects information on a county-by-county basis, the total number and the total amount of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to residents of each county in which the opportunity scholarship organization awarded opportunity scholarships.(viii) The number of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to applicants with a household income that does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level.(ix) The total and average amounts of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to applicants with a household income that does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level.(x) The number of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to applicants with a household income that does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level and who reside within a first class school district.(xi) The total and average amounts of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to applicants with a household income that does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level and who reside within a first class school district.(xii) The number of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to applicants with a household income that does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level and who reside within a school district that was designated as a financial recovery school district under article VI-A at the time of the award.(xiii) The total and average amounts of opportunity scholarships awarded during the immediately preceding school year to applicants with a household income that does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level and who reside within a school district that was designated as a financial recovery school district under article VI-A at the time of the award.(xiv) The total number of opportunity scholarship applications processed and the amounts of any application fees charged either per opportunity scholarship application or in the aggregate through a third-party processor.(xv) The opportunity scholarship organization's federal form 990 or other federal form indicating the tax status of the opportunity scholarship organization for federal tax purposes, if any, and a copy of a compilation, review or audit of the opportunity scholarship organization's financial statements conducted by a certified public accounting firm.(2.1) For the 2025-2026 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, an opportunity scholarship organization must agree to report the following information on a form provided by the department by November 1 of each year:(i) For each scholarship award given to an applicant:(A) An indicator of whether the applicant was an eligible student or an eligible student with a disability.(B) An indicator of whether the applicant was in grades kindergarten through eight or grades nine through 12.(C) The dollar amount of the scholarship award.(D) For the year in which the scholarship award was used:(i) The name of the applicant's school district of residence.(ii) The name of the school entity that the applicant attended.(ii) The information provided under subparagraph (i) may not include personally identifiable information. (3) No later than September 1 of each year, the department shall annually distribute such sample forms, together with the forms on which the reports are required to be made, to each listed opportunity scholarship organization.(3.1) Beginning with the annual report due November 1, 2026, the department shall annually post the information required under paragraph (2.1) in a downloadable spreadsheet on the department's publicly accessible Internet website. (4) The department may not require other information to be provided by opportunity scholarship organizations, except as expressly authorized in this article.(d.2)Verification of income.--Each scholarship organization, pre-kindergarten scholarship organization and opportunity scholarship organization shall provide for an application and review process for scholarship applicants that includes a means of verification of household income, which may include submission of the household members' most recently available federal or state tax returns, if required to be filed by the household members.(d.3)Scholarship organization for economically disadvantaged schools.-- (1) Effective July 1, 2022, in addition to the other requirements of this article, a scholarship organization that intends to provide scholarship awards to applicants of economically disadvantaged schools must demonstrate a history of serving schools throughout this Commonwealth and the capacity to distribute scholarships statewide to applicants of economically disadvantaged schools.(2) A scholarship organization must agree to distribute scholarships to applicants of economically disadvantaged schools not later than February 1 of the applicable school year.(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, the department may not for any school year qualify more than one scholarship organization for the provision of scholarships to applicants of economically disadvantaged schools.(4) A scholarship organization for economically disadvantaged schools shall annually report the following information to the department by November 1 of each year: (i) Scholarship awards by family household income.(ii) The school district where the scholarship recipient currently resides.(iii) The school that the student attended in the year prior to the scholarship award.(iv) The total number, amount and average scholarship awarded.(5) The department may not require additional information to be provided by a scholarship organization for economically disadvantaged schools except as expressly authorized under this article. (e) Notification.--The department shall notify the scholarship organization, pre-kindergarten scholarship organization, educational improvement organization or opportunity scholarship organization that the organization meets the requirements of and is qualified under this article no later than 60 days after the organization has submitted the information required under this section.(f) Publication.--The department shall annually publish a list of each scholarship organization, pre-kindergarten scholarship organization, educational improvement organization and opportunity scholarship organization qualified under this section in the pennsylvania bulletin. The list shall also be posted and updated as necessary on the publicly accessible internet website of the department. The list shall separately identify the opportunity scholarship organization that qualifies under subsection (d.3). Amended by P.L. TBD 2023 No. 33,§ 26, eff. 12/13/2023.Amended by P.L. TBD 2022 No. 55, § 38, eff. 7/8/2022.Amended by P.L. TBD 2019 No. 16, § 11, eff. 7/1/2019.Amended by P.L. TBD 2018 No. 39, § 14, eff. 7/1/2018.Added by P.L. 716 2016 No. 86, § 13, eff. 7/13/2016.