Most GOP Governors already opted into school choice federal tax credits. Why hasn’t Gov. DeSantis?

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon says nearly half the nation’s Governors have already authorized new school choice tax credits. But Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t one of them.

DeSantis is the only Republican Governor of any Southern State who has yet to approve the Education Freedom Tax Credit. That’s a school choice provision included in the Big Beautiful Bill tax cut package signed by President Donald Trump last year, a portion Governors could opt into as of Jan. 1.

Notably, Florida school choice activist Erika Donalds has been one of the chief proponents of the tax credit. The Naples Republican leads the America First Policy Institute’s Florida chapter and chairs the national organization’s Center for Education Opportunity. Through that role, she sent messages to every Governor in the country with a link to opt states in, something that can be done by states without legislative authorization.

“This seems very aligned with Florida being a school choice state,” Donalds said. “I would have thought Florida would be among the first states to opt in.”

The credit would allow any entity to claim a tax credit of up to $1,700 a year to offset donations to any type of support for school choice educational scholarships. That would be on top of other scholarships offered by states.

For example, Florida provides universal choice education scholarships to cover up to $9,000 in private school tuition. But if a family donated $1,700 on top of that to a state-authorized organization like Step Up For Students, which awards Florida’s school choice scholarships, the funding could be awarded for education purposes by Step Up, and the donor could get a deduction on federal income taxes equal to the among given.

As of Tuesday morning, 23 states had opted in, but Florida was not among them.

Could gubernatorial politics be at play? Donalds’ husband, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, announced last year he would run to succeed DeSantis as Governor this year.

DeSantis, who cannot run for another term because of term limits, has so far declined to endorse a successor. But staffers for the outgoing Governor have worked with other candidates and rumors persist First Lady Casey DeSantis may run. The Governor has criticized Byron Donalds’ tenure and said the Congressman “hasn’t been a part of any of the victories” during DeSantis’ tenure as Governor.

Erika Donalds noted that the White House later this week will host a roundtable spotlighting the success of the Education Freedom Tax Credit, and participants had hoped half the nation’s states would have opted in by that point. But based on information released by McMahon on Tuesday, organizers remain two states shy of that goal.

So far, only Republican Governors have opted in. But that means DeSantis is still one of just four GOP Governors in the nation who hasn’t done so.

State Legislatures can authorize the credits themselves, but any such legislation passed would be subject to a veto. As an example, the Republican Legislature in North Carolina approved an opt-in for the Tar Heel State, but Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the state’s participation.

Erika Donalds hopes the ongoing race for Governor isn’t the reason DeSantis has failed to act, and believes it may just be bureaucratic delay.

“Gov. DeSantis is a believer in school choice and educational freedom,” she said. “I don’t see why he wouldn’t want to provide every available option to Florida families.”

Florida Politics has reached out to the Governor’s Office for comment.