HB 455

Education - Certification of Scholarship Granting Organizations (Opting in on Opportunity Act)

Sponsor: April Miller (District 4)Committee: Ways and MeansSubject: Primary and Secondary EducationStatus: Hearing 2/26 at 1:00 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Requiring the State Department of Education to approve and certify a nonprofit organization that meets certain requirements as a scholarship granting organization; requiring the Department, beginning in 2027, to annually provide the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury a list of scholarship granting organizations; and requiring the Comptroller to make available online guidance that assists taxpayers in claiming a certain tax credit for certain contributions.

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Testimony (28)

MGA witness list

FAV 16FavorableUNF 8UnfavorableINFO 4Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	DeMinco, Lynne	BCRW	Position only
FAV	Sandri, Chiara	Better Maryland Schools	Written (PDF)
FAV	Whisler, Steve	Carroll County Elected Official	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Alexandre, Jonathan	Maryland Family Institute	Oral
FAV	Greenhawk, Janet	Moms For Liberty Talbot	Written (PDF)
FAV	Dreisch, Susan	Moms for Liberty	Position only
FAV	Othman, Ronza	National Federation of the Blind of Maryland	Position only
FAV	Lamkin, Steven	Salisbury Christian School	Written (PDF)
FAV	Minicozzi, Michele	St. Mary's Ryken High School	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Delegate Miller, Delegate Millerlegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Lang, Alan	Individual	Position only
FAV	Meyerovich, Mark	Individual	Position only
FAV	Neumark, Tom	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Palombi, Chris	Individual	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Rosa, Richard	Individual	Position only
FAV	Tibbals, Trudy	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Gupta, Riyalobbyist	Blueprint Coalition	Written (PDF)
UNF	Stark, Fish	Center for Freethought Equality	Written (PDF)
UNF	Young, Emily	EdTrust	Written (PDF)
UNF	Sunderman, Gail	League of Women Voters Maryland (LWVMD)	Written (PDF)
UNF	douglass, sharlimar	Maryland Alliance for Racial Equity in Education (MAREE)	Written (PDF)
UNF	Johnson, Seanlobbyist	Maryland State Education Association	Written (PDF)
UNF	Funk, Kenzie	Strong Schools Maryland	Written (PDF)
UNF	Rodriguez Letana, Helen	Individual	Written (PDF)
INFO	Sadwin, Rabbi Ariel	Agudath Israel of Maryland	Written (PDF)
INFO	Sadwin, Ariellobbyist	Maryland CAPE	Written (PDF)
INFO	O'Day, Garrettlobbyist	Maryland Catholic Conference	Written (PDF)
INFO	Rubin, Mickey	Teach Coalition	Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

Agudath Israel of MarylandINFO 1

BCRWFAV 1

Better Maryland SchoolsFAV 1

Blueprint CoalitionUNF 1

Carroll County Elected OfficialFAV 1

Center for Freethought EqualityUNF 1

EdTrustUNF 1

League of Women Voters Maryland (LWVMD)UNF 1

Maryland Alliance for Racial Equity in Education (MAREE)UNF 1

Maryland CAPEINFO 1

Maryland Catholic ConferenceINFO 1

Maryland Family InstituteFAV 1

Maryland State Education AssociationUNF 1

Moms for LibertyFAV 1

Moms For Liberty TalbotFAV 1

National Federation of the Blind of MarylandFAV 1

Salisbury Christian SchoolFAV 1

St. Mary's Ryken High SchoolFAV 1

Strong Schools MarylandUNF 1

Teach CoalitionINFO 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

UNFGupta, RiyaBlueprint CoalitionRegistered for: Strong Schools Maryland, care of The Fund for Educational Excellence

UNFJohnson, SeanMaryland State Education AssociationRegistered for: Maryland State Education Association

INFOSadwin, ArielMaryland CAPERegistered for: Agudath Israel of Maryland

INFOO'Day, GarrettMaryland Catholic ConferenceRegistered for: Maryland Catholic Conference