Last week, the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue , concerning a Montana state legislative program that allowed individuals to receive up to a $150.00 tax credit for money that they could donate to one of several K-12 scholarship funds. Those funds could then be provided to needy families who were otherwise unable to afford private schooling, and it could be used at both religious and secular private schools. The Montana state constitution prohibits the direct or indirect funding of religion. Under the "Blaine Amendment" in the Montana state constitution, the state is prohibited from providing public funds to religious institutions, either directly or indirectly. According to the petition for certiorari , approximately 69% of Montana private schools are religious. Soon after the tax credit program was put in place, the Montana Department of Revenue enacted "Rule 1," a regulation that limited funding to secular schools, specifically excluding religious schools. In response, three mothers whose children would have benefited from the program filed a lawsuit, raising three arguments. First, they argued that the department had acted ultra vires , or in excess of its authority, by ignoring the legislature’s […]
