An Act to Establish the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1841
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: BAGSHAW, STEWART, ANDREWS, HENDERSON, JAVNER, PERKINS, RISEMAN, RUDNICKI, BRAKEY, LIBBY
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-C, 20-A MRSA §6997, 20-A MRSA §15689

Legislative Document
No. 1841
H.P. 1173
House of Representatives, April 27, 2023
An Act to Establish the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BAGSHAW of Windham.
Cosponsored by Senator STEWART of Aroostook and
Representatives: ANDREWS of Paris, HENDERSON of Rumford, JAVNER of Chester, 
PERKINS of Dover-Foxcroft, RISEMAN of Harrison, RUDNICKI of Fairfield, Senators: 
BRAKEY of Androscoggin, LIBBY of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §12004-C, sub-§10 is enacted to read:
10.   
Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Board 
Expenses Only, Public 
Members 
20-A MRSA §6997 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA c. 233 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 233
HOPE AND INCLUSION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
§6997.  Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program
The Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program is established to provide hope accounts 
for qualifying expenses in accordance with this chapter.
1. Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Board" means the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Board established in subsection 
2.
B. "Hope account" means an account established under the program to be used for 
qualifying expenses in accordance with this chapter.
C.  "Program" means the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program established in this 
chapter.
D. "Public school" means a school administrative unit or a public charter school 
authorized under chapter 112.
E. "Qualified school" means a private school approved for attendance purposes 
pursuant to chapter 117.
F. "Qualified student" means a person enrolled in and attending a qualified school.
G.  "Qualifying expense" means an expense incurred in direct connection with 
attendance at a qualified school.
2. Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Board.  The Hope and Inclusion Scholarship 
Board, as established in Title 5, section 12004-C, subsection 10, is established to administer 
the program in accordance with this chapter.
A. The board is composed of the following 9 members:
(1) The Treasurer of State, who serves as the chair of the board;
(2) The State Auditor or the State Auditor's designee;
(3) The Attorney General;
(4) The Commissioner of Education;
(5) The Chancellor of the University of Maine System;
(6) One of the chairs of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, 
Indigenous and Tribal Populations, as established in Title 5, section 12004-J, 
subsection 19, selected by the commission; and
(7) Three residents of the State who have children who have not attained 21 years 
of age, appointed for 3-year terms by the Governor.
B.  The board, with the assistance of the department, shall administer the program in 
accordance with this chapter.  
C.  The board may take all actions necessary to successfully administer the program in 
accordance with applicable laws, including but not limited to executing contracts, 
employing personnel, engaging the services of private consultants, actuaries, auditors, 
counsel or managers and adopting rules necessary to administer the program. 
3.  Establish hope accounts.  The board shall establish hope accounts as follows.
A.  The board by rule shall establish an application process for a parent or legal 
guardian of a qualified student to request the establishment of a hope account.  The 
board:
(1)  May establish a hope account for a qualified student only if the qualified 
student will be receiving education provided by a qualified school; and
(2)  May establish a hope account for a qualified student who will be receiving 
education provided by a qualified school but who will receive some education 
through a public school as long as the majority of the qualified student's education 
is being provided by a qualified school.
B.  The board may authorize private financial management entities to manage hope 
accounts established under this subsection and may establish reasonable fees for 
services that a private financial management entity may charge to a hope account.
4.  Renewal, carryover and closure.  The board may annually renew a hope account 
and deposit funds into the hope account if the parent or legal guardian of a qualified student 
at whose request a hope account was established under subsection 3 applies for a renewal 
and the board finds that the requirements of this subsection and rules adopted under this 
chapter have been met.
A.  Unspent funds in a hope account that is renewed remain in the hope account and 
may be used in accordance with this chapter.
B. To qualify for a renewal of an account, the qualified student must:
(1) Be a resident of this State;
(2) Have not attained 21 years of age;
(3) Have not successfully completed a secondary education; and
(4) If enrolled with a qualified school, have met the educational standards and 
requirements of that qualified school and be in good standing, as demonstrated by 
certification from the qualifed school, except that, if the qualified student is in an 
individualized instructional program, the qualified student must have met 
minimum educational standards established by the department by rule either by 
achieving specified results on nationally normed standardized achievement tests or 
by certification by a certified teacher.
C.  If a parent or legal guardian of a qualified student at whose request a hope account 
was established does not apply for a renewal or the board finds that the requirements 
of this section or rules adopted under this chapter have not been met, the board shall 
close the hope account and provide all funds in the hope account to the State Controller, 
who shall transfer them to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund.
5.  Funding and oversight.  The board shall oversee hope accounts as follows.
A.  Each year, the board shall direct the department to deposit into each active hope 
account 90% of the state subsidy attributable to the qualified student for whom the 
hope account is established that would otherwise have been provided to the qualified 
student's school administrative unit under chapter 606-B.  The department shall also 
direct that school administrative unit to deposit into the hope account 90% of the school 
administrative unit's required contribution to the unit's total cost of education 
attributable to that qualified student.  The department shall calculate these amounts and 
shall allocate the state funds to the extent possible in a manner consistent with the 
schedules applicable to state subsidy payments pursuant to section 15689-B.  New 
funds may not be deposited in a hope account after the qualified student graduates from 
high school.
B.  The board may receive for and use to pay the costs of administering this chapter up 
to 3% of the state subsidy, as defined in section 15672, subsection 31-A, attributable 
to the qualified student for whom a hope account is established.
C.  The board shall establish and administer a hope account in a manner that allows the 
parent or legal guardian of the qualified student for whom the hope account is 
established to expend funds in the account only for the following qualifying expenses, 
and the parent or legal guardian may use funds in the hope account only to pay for the 
following qualifing expenses:
(1) Services provided by a public school, including but not limited to individual 
classes, extracurricular or after-school activities and programs and summer 
educational programs;
(2) Tuition or fees at a qualified school;
(3) Textbooks required by a qualified school;
(4) Basic educational supplies, including but not limited to paper, writing 
implements and computer hardware and technological devices primarily used for 
an educational purpose. For the purpose of this subparagraph, "computer hardware 
and technological devices" includes calculators, personal computers, laptops, 
tablet devices, microscopes, telescopes and printers and does not include 
entertainment and other primarily noneducational devices such as televisions, 
telephones, video game consoles and accessories and home theater and audio 
equipment; 
(5) Tutoring or teaching services provided by an individual or a facility accredited 
by a state, regional or national accrediting organization;
(6) Curricula and supplementary materials;
(7) Tuition or fees for a private online learning program;
(8) Fees for a nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test, an 
advanced placement examination or any exams related to college or university 
admission;
(9) Tuition or fees for a program of study or a curriculum of courses that lead to an 
industry-recognized credential that satisfies a workforce need, as determined by 
the department by rule;
(10) Tuition, fees and materials for enrollment in dual credit or college-level 
courses; 
(11) Fees to manage the hope account;
(12) Educational services and therapies, including but not limited to occupational, 
behavioral, physical, speech-language and audiology therapies;
(13) Uniforms purchased through a qualified school; and
(14) Public transportation services.
D.  The board shall review all expenditures from hope accounts to ensure that they are 
in accordance with the requirements of this subsection and rules adopted under this 
chapter.  If at any time the board finds that expenditures from a hope account are not 
in accordance with the requirements of this subsection or rules adopted under this 
chapter, the board shall notify the parent or legal guardian of the qualified student for 
whom the hope account is established and if, after an opportunity for hearing, the 
department determines that there was in fact a misuse of the funds, the board shall close 
the hope account and provide all funds in the hope account to the State Controller, who 
shall transfer them to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund.
6.  Rules.  The board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter.  Rules 
adopted by the board pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §15689, sub-§17 is enacted to read:
17.  Adjustment for hope accounts.  The commissioner shall reduce the state share 
of the total allocation to a school administrative unit in any year in which one or more hope 
accounts under section 6997 are established for children within that school administrative 
unit.  The amount of the reduction must equal the total state subsidy that is attributable to 
all children in that school administrative unit for whom hope accounts have been 
established, as determined by the department pursuant to section 6997.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program administered by the 
Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Board.  The board is directed to establish hope accounts 
that may be used by the parents or legal guardians of qualified students to pay for the 
education of those students enrolled in private schools.  The funding for these hope 
accounts comes from shifting 90% of the essential programs and services funding that 
would otherwise be provided by the State and by the school administrative unit for each 
qualified student into a hope account.  The bill specifies which educational expenditures 
are permitted and provides for review of spending from the accounts.