To be so similar, there are a lot of differences between the House and Senate’s versions of Tax Reform, especially when it comes to higher education. Shortly before the Thanksgiving recess, the House passed H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In the Senate, a similar Tax Reform Bill was adopted by the Senate Finance Committee and is scheduled for floor debate and voting when the Senate returns during the week of November 27.

While both bills are aimed at cutting taxes and stimulating the economy, there are broad differences in the paths that each body has mapped out. Perhaps the biggest difference is the Senate’s inclusion of a provision to effectively repeal the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act (also known as ACA or “Obamacare”).

Since our focus is non-profit higher education, SCICU and its member colleges and universities are most concerned about those provisions in both versions of tax reform that will make it more costly for students and parents to access a college education or more difficult for independent higher education institutions to hold down costs.

The House bill is the more onerous of the two. The House bill would eliminate student loan interest deductions, eliminate employer-provided education assistance, eliminate tax-free private activity bonds, and eliminate tax-free tuition assistance for many faculty, staff, and graduate assistants. These long-standing provisions were meant to encourage savings for higher education, help student and families pay for college, and assist with the repayment of student loans.

The Senate Finance Committee bill avoids taxing families and students, but similar to the House, proposes a new excise tax on private college endowments and increases taxes on unrelated business income.

Both the House and the Senate intend to increase standard deductions. By doubling the standard deduction for individuals and families, charitable deductions would be out of reach for 95% of taxpayers. One group estimates that this could reduce giving to charitable non-profits by $13 billion or more each year. That is why SCICU and other non-profit organizations are urging Members of Congress to support the Universal Charitable Giving Act which establishes a universal charitable deduction for individual and married couples who do not itemize beyond the standard deduction.

SCICU is joining with national groups like the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) to encourage lawmakers to look more deeply into the adverse impact these proposed cuts will have on our nation’s educational attainment goals and the development of a 21st century workforce.

The on-going concerns of South Carolina’s independent colleges and universities are laid out in a second letter to Senators Graham and Scott. We will continue to work in the best interests of our members and the students and families who continue to seek a high quality, personal, and values-based education at a private non-profit college or university.

This week the US House and Senate released separate versions of their tax reform proposals. The House bill has passed through the Ways and Means Committee and is on its way to the House floor. The Senate bill is in the Finance Committee. Before sending a tax reform bill to the President, the two chambers will need to resolve and reconcile the differences in the two versions.

The House’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act contains a number of provisions that would have a significant adverse impact on the ability of students and families to access and afford a college education. As first proposed, the House bill eliminates tax deductions for student loan interest rates, eliminates the tax-free provisions of employer provided educational assistance, eliminates tax-exempt bonds used by higher education, healthcare and other non-profit organizations for capital construction and renovations, taxes stipends and tuition waivers awarded to graduate assistants, and taxes the value of tuition for those students participating a in a tuition remission program. The House bill also proposes a new tax on endowments, a dangerous precedent that threatens the country’s non-profit organizations.

The details of the Senate tax bill are just emerging, but it does appear that the Senate did not eliminate the student and institutional benefits targeted by the House. The Senate proposal includes an excise tax on wealthy endowments, but the Senate’s threshold—as well as the revised threshold set by the House—excludes any endowment at a South Carolina independent college or university.

SCICU, on behalf of its members, shared our concerns about the deleterious effects that some of the tax reform proposals would have on our institutions and students with the SC Congressional delegation days after the House proposal was published. Although the House changed little of the initial proposal in committee, the Senate avoided including some of the most onerous provisions in its version of tax reform.

A number of independent college and university presidents in South Carolina have been in contact with their House and Senate members. SCICU President and CEO Mike LeFever will be joining other state executives and college presidents at the Fall Leadership Meeting of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Washington next week. NAICU and state organizations like SCICU will be working together with private college and university presidents to promote and protect the interests of students and their families as Congress works to shape a tax reform bill to send to President Trump.

COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina State Senator John L. Scott, Jr. of Columbia and State Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg have been selected as the 2017 SCICU Legislative Champions by the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities.

After serving 18 years in the South Carolina House of Representatives, Sen. John Scott was elected to the State Senate in 2008. Throughout his distinguished legislative career, Sen. Scott has been a staunch supporter of education programs, infrastructure repair and rebuilding, and the welfare of state employees. He serves on the Senate Finance, Labor, Commerce and Industry, Medical Affairs, Rules, and Transportation Committees.

Sen. Scott is a graduate of C.A. Johnson High School and South Carolina State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with a minor in Economics He is also a graduate of the Diversity Leadership Academy at the Richard E. Riley Institute at Furman University.

His community and military service are exemplified by his participation and involvement in a wide array of community organizations, including the Voorhees College Board of Trustees, South Carolina Military Department Joint Service Detachment, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter was the first African American woman in Orangeburg County ever elected to a state office when she was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992. She became the first freshman ever appointed to and is now ranking member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. She is a member of the Joint Bond Review Committee.

A native of Gifford, Florida, Rep. Cobb-Hunter holds a B.S. degree in Afro-American History from Florida A&M University, an M.A. degree in American History from Florida State University, and is a Licensed Master Social Worker. She received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from both the Medical University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston and the highly coveted David Wilkins Legislative Leadership Award from the Riley Institute at Furman University.

Rep. Cobb-Hunter has worked on the national, regional and state levels on a variety of progressive issues aimed at making communities a better place for working families to live. Her longstanding commitment to community service is reflected in her active participation on numerous boards and commissions, including vice president of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

Both Rep. Cobb-Hunter and Sen. Scott have been champions of the Higher Education Tuition Grants program and the state’s merit scholarship programs throughout their long legislative careers. They believe that providing financial aid to students trying to improve their lives through education is an investment in the future of South Carolina. They also have championed college access and success for low-income and educationally disadvantaged students through their unflinching support of the Higher Education Excellence Enhancement program.

The 2017 SCICU Legislative Champions were honored as part of Independent College and University Day on April 5 when students from South Carolina’s private non-profit colleges and universities met at the State House to thank legislators for providing “Opportunities for Excellence” through student aid programs such as Tuition Grants, LIFE, HOPE, Palmetto Fellows, and Lottery Assistance.