Senator John Liu Introducing Legislation To Give NY Board Of Regents Authority Over Federal School Voucher Opt-In

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, November 9, 2026
Contact: Soojin Choi |347-556-6335| press@johnliusenate.com 

Albany, NY - State Senator John Liu, chairperson of the Committee on NYC Education, today announced legislation to give the New York State Board of Regents the sole authority to decide if New York should participate in President Trump’s federal school voucher program. The voucher program was created by the Trump administration as so–called “freedom scholarships” to provide federal tax credits of up to $1,700 for contributions to qualifying scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs) that provide grants for eligible elementary and secondary education expenses.

The bill would empower the Board of Regents, the education experts responsible for overseeing all educational activities in the state, to determine New York's participation in the program on an annual basis. Governor Hochul had announced last month that New York would join the voucher program for the 2027 tax year, a decision that caused concern among public education advocates about the potential harmful impacts it would have on public schools and long-term school funding. If passed, Senator Liu’s legislation would give the Board of Regents the authority on an annual basis to decide whether New York would participate in the voucher program beginning with the 2028 tax year.

State Senator John Liu stated, “However the Trump administration may spin it, this tax credit is a federal voucher program, an idea long debated and rejected in the state of New York because it inevitably diverts resources away from public schools. Though public schools may receive some of the donations eligible to be refunded as tax credits, the clear intent is to subsidize private schools, with the public education funding already cut by the administration. New York should not buy into this terrible policy, advanced by a now lame-duck administration, which has some likelihood of being reversed in the near future.

“Regardless of what the political arguments may be, this program is a matter of education policy best decided by the state Board of Regents which for over 200 years has set policy for all schools in New York State in a manner largely shielded from the prevailing politics of the times. This legislation appropriately places this matter in the hands of the Board of Regents.”

State Senator Liz Krueger stated, “The federal education tax credit program is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a voucher program in disguise that will funnel taxpayer money to private schools and leave our public schools, and the children they serve, worse off. The program rules, written by the Trump administration with no opportunity for states to make changes, will prevent New York from ensuring that those most in need will benefit, and risk siphoning off students – and the funding that goes with them – to far less accountable non-public institutions. This is a decision that should be made by the experts at the Board of Regents, not based on political motivations.” 

State Senator Robert Jackson stated, “Public education is a public trust, and decisions that shape its future must be guided by transparency, accountability, and the interests of every student. I fully support legislation that places this consequential decision with the Board of Regents, the constitutional stewards of New York’s education system. Protecting public education requires more than defending what we have built. It requires safeguarding who has the authority to shape what comes next.”