EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

What is mostly being reported in the national media about the recently passed reconciliation budget bill, or President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” is that it is a giant addition to the national debt, that it is or isn’t the continuation of a giant tax cut that primarily benefits the very wealthy, and that it is or isn’t a vehicle for throwing countless numbers of people off Medicaid and the SNAP food supplement program.

Getting less attention is a substantial national school voucher program that may or may not increase educational opportunities for some students, but will for sure erase the already tenuous barrier between church and state, and will be one more way the rich get richer.

NPR’s Cory Turner, on May 23, reported information gathered from researchers, tax experts and advocates for and against such an educational voucher program that would direct taxpayer money into private and religious schools.

Republicans in both houses of Congress and their backers have included in the budget bill provisions for donors to channel funds into scholarship-granting organizations for a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. The SGO’s would then turn the donations into vouchers for tuition, books or homeschooling costs. An incentive to donate that would be too good to pass up would result from being allowed to claim every dollar of the donation as a tax deduction.

According to Turner’s reporting, this deduction amounts to about three times the amount most other charitable donations could claim.

How to submit an opinion

Ottawa News Network accepts columns and letters to the editor from everyone. Letters should be about 300 words and columns should not exceed 1,000 words. ONN reserves the right to fact-check submissions as well as edit for length, clarity and grammar. Please send submissions to newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.

But that’s not all. Another enticement to donate occurs when a donor decides to donate stocks. Normally, when stocks are sold and profits are reported, the profits are subject to capital gains taxes, but not with these Republicans or this administration. Here, the donor gets dollar-for-dollar tax deductions and an escape from capital gains taxes if he/she donates stocks.

Hilary Wething, of the Economic Policy Institute, termed the program a “tax shelter for the wealthy.”

What was hoped for was that the Senate would take a hard look at this attack on our system of checks and balances, and decide to preserve the separation of church and state, and thus turn back this attempt to provide people who choose to send their children to private and religious schools from doing so on our tax dollars.

That didn’t happen.

— Al VerSchure is a resident of Holland. Contact him at verschure@sbcglobal.net.