Is a tax credit that benefits "scholarship organizations" really a threat to religious liberty?
On too many occasions to count, the ACLU has played an indispensable role in safeguarding civil liberties, something I've personally appreciated most in the post-9/11 era, and especially during the Obama years, when so many other left-leaning entities ceased their vigilance. But I've just come across a lawsuit on an unrelated subject that I wish they hadn't filed.
"Thirty million. That's the amount of tax dollars that could be diverted annually from New Hampshire's coffers to private schools by the year 2022 if the state is allowed to implement its new Education Tax Credit Program," Heather L. Weaver writes on the ACLU's blog. "Under the tax credit program, in exchange for donations to 'scholarship organizations,' New Hampshire businesses will receive tax credits equal to 85 percent of the amount they donate. The scholarship organizations, in turn, will use the funds to award scholarships to private school students, including those attending religious schools. In short, rather than paying their taxes to the state, businesses will instead be able to direct money owed to the state toward religious education."