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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 25, 2023 02:53 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Lindsey M. Williams and Sen. Carolyn T. Comitta |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Protecting LGBTQ Students from Discrimination |
| In the near future, we will be re-introducing legislation to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination. Each year the Educational Improvement and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits (EITC & OSTC) programs provide for scholarships that help Pennsylvania children afford to go to a school other than their school district of residence. Last year saw the largest increase in state dollars going to private schools - an increase that was more than double the previous year's increase, which, at the time, was already the largest in the program's history. Unfortunately, students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community are often denied this financial support because some private schools choose to discriminate against them in the admissions process. Because of this harmful oversight, we are introducing legislation that will protect LGBTQ+ students from being discriminated against by schools that receive funding through EITC and OSTC. It would do this by requiring that schools which receive funding through these programs have a written policy of nondiscrimination. Regardless of how you might feel about these programs, we hope everyone can agree that any program that spends over $400 million of taxpayer dollars should be implemented in a nondiscriminatory way. The status quo of EITC and OSTC will continue to alienate a vulnerable group of students—this is unacceptable and needs to be changed. No student should be forced to hide who they are to receive a scholarship to attend school. This bill was Senate Bill 972 in 2021-22, companion to Representatives Benham and Kenyatta’s HB1878. Senate Bill 972 was previously co-sponsored by Senators Hughes, Collett, Santarsiero, Fontana, Kane, Kearney, Flynn, Brewster, Costa, Cappelletti, Street, Schwank, and Dillon. Please help make this a reality by co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as SB554