{"data":{"id":"us-vt/3-v.s.a.-24","jurisdiction":"us-vt","citation":"3 V.S.A. § 24","heading":"Governor’s list of scholarship granting organizations","body":"(a) Annually on December 1, the Governor or designee may elect to provide a list of organizations that satisfy the conditions of subsection (b) of this section to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury for purposes of making the federal qualified elementary and secondary education scholarship tax credit available for Vermont taxpayers under 26 U.S.C. § 25F. It shall be presumed that an organization listed in the previous year will be listed in the subsequent year unless the Governor finds that the organization has failed to meet the requirements of this section.\n(b) An organization shall not be listed unless the organization meets the following criteria:\n(1) it qualifies as a “scholarship granting organization” as defined under 26 U.S.C. § 25F(c)(5);\n(2) it is a nonprofit organization with the core mission of providing educational opportunities to economically underprivileged students through afterschool programs, summer programs, tutoring, and similar programs;\n(3) all grants and scholarships provided by the organization are to students attending a public school, as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(7), or an independent school, as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(8), that is also capable of receiving public tuition;\n(4) all grants and scholarships provided by the organization are for students to attend a program offered by a program provider that has entered into a memorandum of understanding pursuant to subsection (c) of this section with a public school, as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(7); an independent school, as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(8), that is also capable of receiving public tuition; or a school district, as defined in 16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(10); and\n(5) when determining whether to award a scholarship, the organization does not discriminate against any student because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, place of birth, crime victim status, or age or against a student with a disability, as that term is defined under 21 V.S.A. § 495d(5).\n(c) The memorandum of understanding between a program provider and school required under subdivision (b)(4) of this section shall include verification that the program provider offers a program that:\n(1) is for after school, during a school break, for supplemental tutoring, or similar;\n(2) is educational in nature; and\n(3) does not discriminate against any student because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, place of birth, crime victim status, or age or against a student with a disability, as that term is defined under 21 V.S.A. § 495d(5).\n(d) Annually, on or before January 15, each scholarship granting organization listed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section in the previous calendar year shall provide a report to the House and Senate Committees on Education providing the following information relating to activity in the previous year:\n(1) the total amount provided in scholarships under this section;\n(2) the total number of scholarships provided under this section;\n(3) the total number of scholarship recipients;\n(4) a complete list of afterschool programs, summer programs, tutoring, and similar programs that scholarship recipients attended using scholarship funds provided by the organization and the amount of scholarship funds received by each program;\n(5) the total number of individuals who made donations to the organization, including the zip code of each individual donor;\n(6) the total amount of money received as donations;\n(7) the total amount spent on administrative costs with a description of those administrative costs and an accounting of any unspent funds currently held; and\n(8) a list identifying all employees, officers, and board members of the organization that includes, for every individual, the name of the position held and compensation received.\n(e) In the Governor’s discretion, the Governor may audit an organization seeking placement on the list, or a program receiving scholarship funds under this section, to ensure the organization meets all the requirements for placement as provided by this section and applicable federal law. The Governor shall not list an organization that the Governor knows is not in compliance with the requirements of this section or 26 U.S.C. § 25F(c)(5).\n(f)(1) If the Attorney General finds that any provision of this section is rendered invalid due to a federal act, federal agency rule, or court of competent jurisdiction, the Attorney General shall submit written notice of the invalidation to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate that the provision is invalid.\n(2) Upon receipt of the notice provided under subdivision (1) of this subsection, neither the Governor nor the Governor’s designee shall provide a list of organizations to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (a) of this section until the General Assembly has enacted legislation addressing the invalidated provision.","path":["Title 3: Executive","Chapter 001: Governor"],"source_url":"https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/03/001/00024","current_through":"2026 session","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-10-25T03:08:56Z","sha256":"4e49b207211b327ee7a720fde5f38a8da240e3869fb2a84b744aed1c31fa337b","source_id":"us-vt","stale":false,"prev":"us-vt/3-v.s.a.-23","next":"us-vt/3-v.s.a.-31-35"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}