Senate leader Greg Treat comments on passage of education scholarship program
Published: May 19th, 2021
With his wife Maressa holding the Holy Bible, Senator Greg Treat of Oklahoma City takes the oath for the start of one of his terms of service at the State Capitol. File Photo.
File Photo by Pat McGuigan. Greg Treat and his wife, Maressa, stopping by the State Election Board offices before one of his filings for election to the Oklahoma State Senate.
File Photo. Greg Treat, early in his tenure as an Oklahoma state Senator.
Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City.
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Staff Report
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, commended the full Senate for overwhelmingly passing Senate Bill 1080, which makes improvements to the Equal Opportunity Scholarship Act.
The Equal Opportunity Scholarship program provides tax credits to donors who voluntarily donate funds to support education. The grants can be used by private schools to support low-income families and by public schools for innovation or classroom support.
Treat’s Senate Bill 1080 increases to $50 million the amount of tax credits available for the program, with $25 million for public schools and $25 million for private schools. Additionally, the bill adds transparency by increasing reporting requirements of the private schools’ scholarship granting organizations.
“The Equal Opportunity Scholarship Act is a life-changing program. The program has benefited homeless children and low-income families. The changes we are making to the program will help deserving students receive a high-quality education they otherwise could not afford,” Treat said.
Continuing: “The changes also will generate more funding for public schools by giving their supporters more ways to donate. This is a tremendous bill for students, families and Oklahoma education overall. I appreciate the overwhelming support of my Senate colleagues and look forward to the Oklahoma House passing the bill,” Treat said in his statement, sent to The City Sentinel newspaper, CapitolBeatOK.com (an online news service) and other news organizations..
S.B. 1080 on Tuesday passed by a vote of 36-11 and now goes to the Oklahoma House of Representatives for consideration.