The Georgia Senate wants to nearly double the tax breaks that go to donors who give to a program that pays for private school scholarships.

The tax credit program for elementary, middle and high school scholarships has been capped at $120 million a year since 2023.

House Bill 328 would lift that to $225 million.

The Republican-led measure faced the same criticism from Democrats as had similar measures in the past: that the program diverts money from public schools, that it favors the wealthy and that there is minimal accountability.

The Qualified Education Expense Tax Credit was enacted in 2008 with a $50 million cap. It gives taxpayers all their money back, subject to certain maximums, when they donate to a student scholarship organization.

The organizations then hand out scholarships that cannot exceed the average spent on public school students statewide.

HB 328 would exempt students with certain learning disabilities from the scholarship maximum. It would also exempt them and students from military families from the requirement that they attend their local public school before entering the program.

The scholarships are only available to students zoned to attend a school performing in the bottom quartile on various state measures.

Democrats argued that the current average scholarship amount of $4,800 would cover only a half to a third of private school tuition. This effectively excludes students from lower-income households who cannot cover the difference while diverting money from their schools, said Sen. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta.

“So, the question is, who does this work for? The answer,” he said, “is it works for families who can already afford to send their child to these schools.”

Republicans countered that many families needed the taxpayer help to give their children an opportunity they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Republican, said he knew plenty of families who had used the program to send their children to private schools where they thrived.

Sen. Shawn Still, R-Suwanee, observed how much this debate resembled those in the past. “I think we all already know how we’re voting on this,” he said.

And he was right: the measure was approved 30-20 in a party-line vote, with Republicans on the winning side.

HB 328 must now return to the House, which can decide whether to accept or reject the changes.

When the House approved the measure, it increased the cap a lot less, to $140 million. Both chambers agreed that business donors should be able to count scholarship contributions against their state insurance premium tax liability, though each set different caps on that amount, as well.