(The Center Square) – More than thirty states in the U.S. have now opted in or announced their intention to opt in for the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, but Washington remains on the sidelines.
The program enables eligible taxpayers to claim a federal tax credit for qualified contributions to scholarship organizations that provide scholarships for elementary and secondary education expenses.
Conservative estimates say the tax credit could generate more than $700 million annually for Washington students, but only if Washington opts in.
Governor Bob Ferguson has until the end of the year to do so. Otherwise, Washington taxpayers can still take the tax credit of up to $1,700, but then those contributions would be directed to other states that have opted into the program.
“It’s encouraging to see that 27 states have already signed up to participate in this program that promotes and supports elementary and secondary education,” said IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano in a June 8, 2026, press release. “We are hopeful that additional states will decide to participate.”
In addition to the 27 confirmed states participating in the education tax credit program, four additional states have announced plans to join.
As reported by The Center Square in early May, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, opted her state into the program. Colorado is another blue state which has recently joined.
Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal has stated he is opposed to the idea, suggesting it could pull money from public education.
The Center Square pressed Reykdal about that opposition during a Feb. 5, 2026, press conference.
“What I have said is families with kids in schools absolutely need a tax credit for having kids, for school, public and private,” he said. “That can be done through the tax code, not by the state picking and choosing kids who are going to get scholarships to fund religious education. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Where the tax credit funds are directed, is entirely up to the individual taxpayer and could be used for both public and private education expenses such as tuition, books and supplies, transportation and more.
Washington Policy Center Education Center Director Vicki Murray told The Center Square she believes opposition is coming from the Washington Education Association.
“This is [coming from] leadership from the teacher’s union. This is just, I think, absolute political ideology and being politically doctrinaire. We shouldn’t do that at the expense of our students and our schools,” said Murray.
“We’re paying for this out of our federal tax dollars. So, it doesn’t cost the schools anything. It doesn’t cost the state anything. It’s all value added. This is not a partisan issue. Do we want to get more money for education or not? I think, in my opinion, this is about power and control.”
Murray speculated WEA and OSPI opposition is rooted in the fact some taxpayers may want to direct their money to private schools. However, the program allows the taxpayer to choose the scholarship organization, whether it is for public or private school expenses.
“The fact that some people may use these scholarships to pay for private school tuition, uniforms, that sort of thing,” she said. “Why are we going to deny funding that’s already paid for just because some of those students, and some of that money, will flow to private school students? It makes absolutely no sense.”
A June 15 email from OSPI Chief Strategy Officer Katy Payne suggested the office is waiting for further details from the federal government.
“We continue to monitor the lack of guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department. Until the federal government has issued guidance, we do not have information to share,” wrote Payne.
Reykdal said the same back in February.
“We don’t have guidance yet from the U.S. Treasury Department. They put out sort of political statements, but no real guidance.”
Murray told The Center Square, the Treasury Department just last week held a series of video calls with stakeholders to take feedback and offer guidance.
“The forthcoming guidance is expected to provide states, scholarship-granting organizations, taxpayers, and other stakeholders with a clear path to prepare for the launch of the Education Freedom Tax Credit in January 2027,” noted a June 10 news release from Treasury, indicating they expect “to issue proposed regulations by the end of September.”
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Kevin Salinger recently outlined several key issues in the forthcoming guidance.
TCS reached back out to OSPI to see if the office received the latest guidance from Treasury, or what further questions the agency has, but received no response.
TCS also reached out to Ferguson and WEA for comment, but received no reply.
“Every one of us federal taxpayers can now take this credit. The only question for our governor, along with the governors of other holdout states, is, do we want our federal dollars to go to the IRS, or flow out of state to other students in other schools, or do we want to keep those funds in state?”, Murray said.
“I don’t see why this is such a tough decision. This should be a no-brainer.”