Of all the plot lines in the 2015 budget process, the fight over a school-donation tax credit may turn out to be the most complicated.<\/p>\n
The Catholic Church and a broad swath of other religious and community organizations have built support over several years for a controversial tax credit that would incentivize donations to private school scholarship funds and public schools. The credit is closer than it\u2019s ever been to reality, as Governor Andrew Cuomo has included $100 million to fund it in his executive budget proposal.<\/p>\n
But Cuomo also linked the credit in his budget to the Dream Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants access to state tuition assistance for college. He made passage of each proposal contingent on the other.<\/p>\n
A bill that would establish a slightly different version of the tax credit than what Cuomo dictated in his budget has passed the State Senate repeatedly, where Republicans have been among its loudest proponents. The powerful majority conference, however, opposes the Dream Act; when asked early this year if he would consider the compromise, G.O.P. leader Dean Skelos, of Long Island, said the Dream Act was a \u201cno-go.\u201d<\/p>\n