EDUCATION/GOP/TAXES: “Republican lawmakers are looking for a way to exempt a small, tuition-free college in Kentucky from a provision in their new tax law that imposes a levy on university endowments, prompting charges of favoritism from Democrats.
Republicans say Berea College deserves the exemption because the small liberal-arts Christian college is unusual, even unique: It accepts only low-income students and fully covers their tuition costs, while they work to pay for living expenses…
Democrats, however, accuse Mr. McConnell of favoring a school in his home state while ignoring the fact the new law, by taxing large university endowments, damages numerous other schools that also subsidize poorer students…
Now Republicans hope to insert a Berea exemption in an upcoming spending or tax bill. The debate reflects a broader dispute not just over the effects of the new tax law, but also over the role and value of higher education in America.
Republicans created the tax on large university endowments, defined as those worth at least $500,000 per student, as one of several new sources of revenue in their tax overhaul. The tax is expected to bring in $1.8 billion over a decade and sweeps in about 60 schools, from large research universities like Harvard and Stanford to smaller liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore in Pennsylvania.”
-Michelle Hackman, “Tax-Law Spat Over a Kentucky College Prompts Charges of Favoritism,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 2, 2018 07:53am