n class="drop">In 2015, the state of Montana instituted a policy that allowed taxpayers who donated to organizations providing students with private-school scholarships to deduct up to $150 from their state tax bills. The Montana Department of Revenue was charged with implementing the initiative and ensuring that it complied with the state’s constitution. While the program had no overt religious component, certain families used the scholarship monies to help send their children to religious schools. The Department of Revenue, concerned that this violated the state constitution’s so-called Blaine amendment, which bars the provision of public funds to religious schools, issued a rule preventing any scholarship money donated under the program from going toward such schools.Read Full Article »
