An Act to Establish the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program in
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0220
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: BAGSHAW, LIBBY
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-C, 20-A MRSA §6997, 20-A MRSA §15689

Legislative Document
No. 220
H.P. 143
House of Representatives, January 21, 2025
An Act to Establish the Hope and Inclusion Scholarship Program in 
Order to Provide Funding for Students Attending Certain Private 
Schools and Students Receiving Home Instruction
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 LIBBY of Cumberland and
Representatives: CAMPBELL of Orrington, COLLINS of Sidney, HAGGAN of Hampden, 
LYMAN of Livermore Falls, SCHMERSAL-BURGESS of Mexico, SWALLOW of Houlton, 
Senators: BRADSTREET of Kennebec, GUERIN of Penobscot.
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 for 
Public Members 
appointed pursuant to 
Title 20-A, section 6997, 
subsection 2, paragraph 
A, subparagraph (7) 
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 eligible to enroll in a public school within the 
State in accordance with section 5001-A.
G.  "Qualifying expense" means an approved expense incurred in direct connection 
with attendance at a qualified school or a student's educational experience.
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 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 or receiving 
home instruction under section 5001-A, subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph 
(4);
(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; and
(3)  May establish a hope account for a qualified student whose parent has agreed 
to use the qualified student's hope account only for qualifying expenses.
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, carry-over and closure.  The board may annually renew a hope account 
and deposit funds into the hope account if the parent of a qualified student for whom 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 a hope 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;
(4) If enrolled in 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 qualified school, except that, if the qualified student is in an 
individualized education plan, the qualified student must have met minimum 
educational standards established by the department by rule either by achieving 
specified results on a national norm-referenced achievement test or by certification 
by a certified teacher; and
(5)  If not enrolled in a qualified school, agree to show academic progress through 
a standardized achievement test, an approved national norm-referenced 
achievement test or, if eligible, have demonstrated academic progress under 
section 5001-A, subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (4), division (b).
C.  If a parent of a qualified student for whom 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 transfer all funds in the hope account to the State Controller, who shall transfer 
these funds 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, as defined in section 15672, subsection 31-A, 
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 school administrative 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 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 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 may 
use funds in the hope account only to pay for the following qualifying 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 purposes 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 national norm-referenced achievement test, fees for a standardized 
achievement test or a test developed by school officials administered through the 
qualified student's school administrative unit, an advanced placement examination 
or any examination 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 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 transfer all funds in the hope account to the State Controller, who shall 
transfer those funds 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 students within that school administrative 
unit.  The amount of the reduction must equal the total state subsidy that is attributable to 
all students 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 certain private schools and students receiving home 
instruction.  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.