As we enter the last days of this year’s legislative session, there’s one issue that continues to echo loudly in the halls of the Capitol – the Education Investment Tax Credit (EITC).

Over these past few weeks, advocates of the EITC, like the Coalition for Opportunity in Education, have used any and every tactic they can to push their agenda into law. Many people here in Onondaga County have been subjected to these tactics: a barrage of robocalls, glossy mailers and television commercials from interest groups that claim the EITC is nothing but good for students and New York State. These advocates claim that to be against the EITC is to be against common sense.

If only it were that simple. As a graduate of a parochial school and a catholic college, I value the contributions private educational institutions make to our state education system. However, as a state legislator, I firmly believe the EITC does little for us here in Central New York. The EITC would instead be a boon to wealthy downstate individuals and institutions. Upstate students and families would see little – if any – of this funding.

My opposition to the EITC is not driven by a desire to deprive private schools of funding, but a belief that we should use existing programs to direct funds into those schools rather than implement large scale tax breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations that don’t need them.

If the Governor’s EITC proposal becomes law, it would mark the start of a race between wealthy individuals, corporations and partnerships to claim up to $1 million in tax credits. In addition, because these credits are awarded in exchange for charitable donations, a donor would be eligible to claim a federal tax deduction on top of the state-awarded credits. While the interest groups have called this portion of the EITC an investment in our children’s future, I prefer to call it what it really is – a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for the wealthy.

Unfortunately, a discussion of how these tax credits work is largely absent in the marketing I’ve seen to date. Instead, the focus is on scholarships for students. While improving access to education is always worth examining, the details of the EITC fall short for Central New York.

EITC advocates argue we need this program to help private school students. However, they fail to mention that private schools already receive support from the state, and that support has risen over the last decade. We contribute about $190 million to nonpublic schools each year to help them cover costs like in-school nurses, books, non-religious coursework and transportation.

By comparison, this tax credit does not allow for oversight of the funding. Alarmingly, the EITC would provide absolutely zero safeguards against the credits being used to fund institutions that promote discrimination or religious intolerance. Once these credits are doled out, New Yorkers no longer have a say on how they will be used. Four-hundred fifty million dollars over three years, is a high price to pay for absolutely no security that funds will be used for the supplies and services every student needs.

Many Central New Yorkers know the facts on the EITC. They have called, written and emailed me to unequivocally state it would be unconscionable to support a measure that disproportionately benefits the wealthy when so many of our public schools are still owed money from the state – to me, that makes perfect sense.