HB192, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, would prohibit “ski passes, lift tickets and access to recreational facilities” as allowable expenses under the “Utah Fits All” scholarship.
The proposal would also prohibit costs related to “participation in sports, recreational activities, or athletic programs” — including “team fees, uniforms, equipment, or supplies” — as well as “any other expense” for activities or programs already available to scholarship recipients through public programs.
Dailey-Provost was not immediately available Wednesday to comment on her proposal.
The Republican-led voucher program was approved in just 10 days during the 2023 legislative session. It became the largest school voucher program in state history, with an initial allocation of $42.5 million. But that allocation was nearly doubled last year to $82 million in a move that lawmakers said was meant to accommodate additional interest.
That updated total was enough to provide roughly 10,000 Utah students with an $8,000 Utah Fits All scholarship for the 2024-25 school year.
In addition to paying for private school tuition and covering homeschooling expenses, extracurricular activities are considered “educational expenses” — and, yes, that includes ski passes, according to the Utah Fits All website.
Read the full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.