New Mexico’s Senators Heinrich/Lujan co-sponsor anti-school choice legislation

The Rio Grande Foundation and numerous other organizations in New Mexico have been pushing for Gov. Lujan Grisham to embrace the federal school choice tax credit contained in the “Big Beautiful Bill” which passed Congress and President Trump signed last year.

The U.S. school choice tax credit scholarship is a nonrefundable tax credit, allowing individuals to receive federal tax credits for donations up to $1,700 to authorized scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). It is a dollar-for-dollar nonrefundable tax credit, meaning individuals can lower their federal tax liability by $1 for every $1 donated to accredited SGOs. If a taxpayer donates more than $1,700, they will not receive a tax refund for the amount over $1,700. The total amount of credits the program can offer is not capped.

The bill provides benefits for private, charter, and even traditional public schools. But, that’s not enough for bill sponsor Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and the shocking number (30 in total) of Democrat Senators (including Sens. Heinrich and Lujan of New Mexico) who wish to shut the program down before it even gets started.

There are MANY reasons why this move makes zero sense. For starters, considering that Republicans and President Trump remain in office through the end of this Congress, this bill is all about messaging, not policy. It is going nowhere.

New Mexico ranks dead last in education and has for years, so it is simply unconscionable that congressional “leaders” from New Mexico would be on board with killing one of the few ideas likely to help students in the state.

Naturally, the leading special interest groups in opposition to the federal tax credit are the unions which control much of the education system. Many of these same “education” groups are committed to outright socialism and even communism as signified in their sponsorship of Mayday celebrations. Nationally school choice remains overwhelmingly popular.