Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) plans to support President Donald Trump’s federal school choice tax credit program, a rare move among Democratic governors as Republicans continue pushing to expand private education options nationwide.
Hochul’s office confirmed to Bloomberg on Friday that New York intends to participate in the federal initiative created through the GOP-backed tax and spending legislation signed by Trump earlier this year.
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The program allows taxpayers to receive federal tax credits for donations to scholarship organizations that help families pay for private K-12 education expenses, including tuition at religious and independent schools.
States must opt into the program, which is set to begin in 2027, for residents to access the credits.
“Governor Hochul is supportive of the federal tax credit scholarship and its potential to help New York students and schools,” deputy press secretary Emma Wallner said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Wallner added that Hochul’s office is still reviewing the program’s details, as the fine print on how it will operate has not been released. She said they will be on the lookout “for poison pills that could harm New York’s education system.”
The decision makes New York one of more than two dozen states expected to join the initiative and one of only a small number led by Democrats. Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) has also signaled support for participation, but many Democratic governors and teachers unions have sharply criticized school choice programs as a threat to traditional public education funding.
Trump has made school choice a major part of his second-term education agenda, arguing that parents should have broader authority to move children out of struggling public schools.
Republicans in Congress have increasingly framed federal tax credit scholarship programs as an alternative to direct federal voucher systems, which have historically faced legal and political resistance.
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The move could create political friction for Hochul with New York’s Democratic coalition, particularly among organized labor and public school advocates. Teachers unions in New York have historically opposed voucher-style education programs and have backed increased state investments in public schools.
Hochul’s support for the initiative also comes as she recently embraced several policies with Trump-backed economic proposals. The Empire State’s newly approved state budget includes provisions eliminating certain taxes on tipped wages, echoing a similar proposal promoted by Trump at the federal level.
