AFPNC Asks Lawmakers To Shift Film Subsidy Spending To Vouchers | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

$20 million in Senate plan would fund all students who applied

    RALEIGH     An grass-roots group that backs school choice has asked the state Senate to shift $20 million it targeted for film incentives toward vouchers that would help low-income children attend private schools.

    Americans for Prosperity is urging the General Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory to redirect that $20 million to the state's fledgling Opportunity Scholarship Program.

    Donald Bryson, deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina, said the move could resolve a lingering issue dividing the two chambers of the General Assembly.

    "They can easily unite behind two policy issues they have agreed to previously — the Opportunity Scholarship Program and allowing special tax subsidies for the film industry to expire," Bryson said.

    Bryson continued: "By allowing these misguided film subsidies to expire, as agreed to in the tax reform agreement in 2013, and reallocating the currently budgeted $20 million to our state's Opportunity Scholarship Program, legislators can provide 4,700 more opportunity scholarships to low-income children across our state."

    Film companies now receive a 25 percent refundable state tax credit for expenses on productions shot in North Carolina. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of the year, but the industry and its supporters have lobbied heavily to keep the subsidies alive.

    The spending plan the Senate approved earlier this year provided $20 million in film production subsidies through the Department of Commerce. The money would come from the state's rainy day fund and from repair and renovations reserves. The House budget includes no film subsidies, and the issue should be settled before lawmakers adjourn later this summer.

    The Opportunity Scholarship Program, which passed the General Assembly last year, provides $4,200 vouchers for lower income students to attend private schools. Funding for the first year was limited to 2,400 scholarships, and 5,552 students applied for them. A lottery is needed to determine which students receive the scholarships for the upcoming school year.

    In February, Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood issued an injunction halting the voucher program after opponents filed suit claiming the scholarships were unconstitutional. The N.C. Supreme Court lifted that injunction in May. The case is scheduled for another hearing next month.

    In June, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina organized a rally on the Legislative Building grounds calling for lawmakers to lift the cap on the number of children that can participate in the Opportunity Scholarships program during its first year.

    Mark Jewell, vice president of the N.C. Association of Educators, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said the statewide teachers organization would not support the proposal.

    "We would not support that based on the sole premise that we feel like vouchers and using taxpayer dollars to fund those is unconstitutional," Jewell said. "Private schools have a place, but they should never have taxpayer dollars."

    Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, said he remains "cautiously optimistic" that lawmakers will find the money to allow the students who applied to be able to attend their chosen private school this fall.

    "Everything's on the table," Allison said.

    Bryson called the voucher program "the civil rights struggle of our day," adding the General Assembly "can easily double our existing Opportunity Scholarship program by ending handouts to Hollywood."