Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who is running to lead the House Education and Workforce Committee in the next Congress, is pushing to repeal a federal education tax credit that could benefit Jewish day schools and other religious institutions, arguing that the program improperly directs taxpayer-subsidized funding to private schools rather than public education.

The proposal is part of Bonamici’s Transforming Education for the Future Act, a package of 22 Democratic education bills that would repeal the Education Freedom Tax Credit, created under Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

The program, set to take effect in 2027, allows taxpayers to claim credits of up to $1,700 annually for donations to scholarship-granting organizations that fund K-12 private school tuition, including at religious schools. Bonamici has argued that the policy diverts public resources to private institutions that can selectively admit students and are not subject to the same accountability requirements as public schools. Bonamici did not respond to a request for comment from Jewish Insider. 

The tax credit has become a point of contention between some Democrats and Jewish communal organizations, which have been lobbying governors to opt their states into the program that they say could make Jewish day school tuition more affordable. While many Republican governors have embraced the initiative, only Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham have opted in among Democrats, with several others weighing whether to participate amid opposition from teachers’ unions. 

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the current ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) — both of whom are competing against Bonamici for the committee’s top Democratic spot — have also backed repealing the Education Freedom Tax Credit. 

Scott co-sponsored the Keep Public Funds in Public Schools Act of 2026 and has been an outspoken critic of the program, similarly arguing that it diverts taxpayer resources from public schools to private education. In an October interview with Education Week, Scott said Democrats had been “targeting it for repeal.”

Hayes is also a co-sponsor of the repeal legislation, introduced in June by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), putting her on record in opposition to the tax credit. Neither Scott nor Hayes responded to requests for comment from JI.