Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.Gov. Jared Polis said Friday that Colorado’s participation in a new federal tax-credit scholarship program won’t run afoul of state anti-discrimination laws because the program relies on private donations rather than public funding.The federal program provides $1,700 in annual tax credits for donations made to scholarship-granting organizations for various educational services, such as private school tuition, tutoring, and after-school programs. Last week, several Democratic Colorado lawmakers decided to shelve a bill that would have required organizations to abide by state anti-discrimination laws.The bill concerned Polis, whose office said the governor didn’t want to hamstring the state from bringing in money for education. On Friday, Polis also said the state shouldn’t determine which organizations are “worthy” of receiving money from the program. “When you give $100 to any charity, it can be a church, it can be something that discriminates. It can be pro-gay or anti-gay,” said Polis, who is the first openly gay man to be elected governor in the country. ”It doesn’t matter.”Invest in Education Foundation, which supports the federal tax credit, hosted the event at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, drawing about 150 kids, educators, and parents. Attendees included representatives from Parents Challenge, a Denver-based nonprofit that supports school choice, and Seeds of Hope, a Catholic private school advocacy organization.Invest in Education invited Polis to talk about his decision to opt Colorado into the federal program, which was approved last year as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act backed by Republicans. For states to benefit from the program, governors must opt in.Speaking to reporters after the event, Polis tried to draw a line between his support for the federal tax credit and his stance that Colorado’s universal preschool programs cannot discriminate against students. The major difference between the two, he said, is the preschool programs use state dollars, not donations.The state is currently involved in a U.S. Supreme Court case brought by two Catholic preschools that wanted to participate in the state’s universal preschool program but didn’t want to have to admit LGBTQ children or children from LGBTQ families.More than two dozen states have opted into the federal tax-credit program, with most led by Republican governors, according to Ballotpedia. Polis, the first Democratic governor to opt in, said during the event that he doesn’t want Colorado to leave money on the table that could benefit all kids in the state. If other states don’t opt into the program, he added, then Colorado should “go after their donors.”Most Democratic governors have taken a wait-and-see approach to understand the program’s rules, which haven’t been finalized, before making a decision. Democratic governors in New York and North Carolina have said they intend to opt into the program. Meanwhile, Kansas and Kentucky legislators have opted their states into the program, despite their Democratic governors trying to block participation.“I’m personally excited that Colorado is one of the leading states in helping to build awareness around this exciting opportunity to boost charitable giving to help our kids,” Polis said.Peter Murphy, who is the vice president of policy at Invest in Education, said the foundation hosted the event to raise awareness about what the law can do for private and public school families, as well as those who home-school.“Every non-wealthy child in this country is the potential beneficiary,” Murphy said. “And what this law also does is it puts more control of a child’s education in the hands of their parents, including public school parents.”While Polis has opted Colorado into the program, his term ends in January. The next governor could decide to opt the state out of the program when they take office. Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
