Utah Fits All Scholarship Program Amendments

Created new definitions for 'contract administrator', 'contract oversight and compliance', 'contracted entity employee', 'contracted entity officer', 'financial administrator', and 'educational supplements' to clarify roles and responsibilities.

Established a new financial administrator role to process payments and manage scholarship account funds separately from the program manager.

Added income verification requirements requiring household income documentation rather than individual income, with specific provisions for business income and households awaiting tax filings.

Limited extracurricular expenses to 20% of the total scholarship amount and physical education expenses to an additional 20% of the total scholarship amount.

Added requirements for local education agencies acting as qualifying providers, including distinct enrollment systems, transparent fee structures, and equal treatment of scholarship students.

Established scholarship rollover provisions allowing unused funds to carry forward at a 2:1 ratio up to a maximum of $2,000.

Created procedures for students with special needs by coordinating with existing special education scholarship programs to prevent duplicate benefits.

Added background check requirements for all contracted entity employees and officers through the Bureau of Criminal Identification.

Strengthened residency requirements by requiring verification of primary residence in Utah through utility bills, mortgage statements, lease agreements, or property tax records.

Created a new Utah Fits All Scholarship Restricted Account that allows funds to accrue interest and be invested, with unused scholarship funds returning to this account.

Enhanced accountability through requirements for annual and random audits, monthly financial reports, and public disclosure of third-party contracts and fees.

Prohibited contracted entities from charging processing fees to families or passing on third-party fees related to scholarship fund management.

Added deadlines for scholarship acceptance or denial, requiring program managers to communicate acceptance deadlines to eligible students.

Created a new 'financial administrator' role that operates independently from the program manager to process payments and maintain financial controls.

Established a financial administrator to process payments and fund expenditures from scholarship accounts, separating financial operations from program administration.

Prohibited the program manager from charging processing fees to families, protecting scholarship recipients from administrative costs.

Limited extracurricular expenses to 20% of the total scholarship amount and physical education expenses to an additional 20% of the scholarship amount.

Added requirements for local education agencies acting as qualifying providers, including distinct enrollment systems, transparent fee structures, and equal treatment of scholarship students.

Strengthened residency requirements by requiring verification of primary residence in Utah through utility bills, lease agreements, or property tax records.

Clarified income verification process by allowing the State Tax Commission to provide tax information upon consent and specifying acceptable documentation for households awaiting tax filings.

Created a Utah Fits All Scholarship Restricted Account within the Income Tax Fund that can accrue interest and be invested.

Allowed unused scholarship funds to rollover to the next year at a 2:1 ratio, up to a maximum of $2,000 cumulative.

Enhanced accountability through requirements for annual and random audits by independent certified public accountants and public disclosure of third-party contracts and fees.

Established specific deadlines for scholarship acceptance or denial, with students required to respond by a deadline or forfeit the offer.

Added new sections for students with special needs coordination and appeals process for denied reimbursements.

Added reporting requirements to the Education Interim Committee including data on appeals, rollover funds, income verification, and restricted expenses.

New definitions for 'contracted entity', 'contracted entity employee', 'contracted entity officer', 'department of operations', and 'educational supplements' to clarify program administration and fund usage.

Creation of a financial administrator role to process payments and manage scholarship account expenditures.

Removal of previous chaperone expense allowances, replacing them with more restrictive guidelines.

Prohibition on program managers charging processing fees to families.

New requirements for local education agencies acting as qualified providers.

Extracurricular and physical education expenses are now limited to 20% of the scholarship amount.

Establishment of a Utah Fits All Scholarship Restricted Account that can accrue interest and be invested.

Enhanced accountability measures including audits and transparency requirements for program managers.

Home-based scholarship funding was split into two age tiers: $8,000 for ages 5-11 and $4,000 for ages 12-18, replacing a single flat rate.

New privacy requirement added prohibiting program managers from disclosing student portfolio content without parental consent, except when removing all personally identifiable information for sample use.

Corrected a formatting error in the House Amendments header date and removed duplicate page header text.

Clarified that extracurricular scholarship expenses cannot exceed 20% of total scholarship amounts, and physical education expenses cannot exceed an additional 20% of the base amount, with rollover amounts excluded from these calculations.

Added a new definition section specifying that scholarship expenses do not include chaperone expenses, except that families with certain scholarship students may use funds for one chaperone expense or pass per family regardless of the number of scholarship students.

Updated provider requirements to specify that training must be completed rather than using bracketed placeholder text, and clarified that orientation programs are established by the program manager.

Changed the document header from House Committee Amendments to House Floor Amendments and updated the amendment date from February 14 to February 24, 2025.

Added mandatory training requirements for contracted entities and service providers to ensure they meet program standards before receiving scholarship funds.

Clarified that extracurricular and physical education expense limits (20% each) are calculated based on the base scholarship amount, excluding any rollover funds.

Adjusted rollover language to explicitly state the $2,000 maximum rollover amount that can accumulate for students.

Made minor formatting and line break adjustments to improve document clarity and consistency.

Created new definitions for 'Financial Administrator', 'Contracted Entity', 'Contracted Entity Employee', and 'Contracted Entity Officer' to separate payment processing from program management.

Established a new Utah Fits All Scholarship Restricted Account that can accrue interest and receive unused scholarship funds.

Added requirements for income verification including State Tax Commission data sharing, utility bills, lease agreements, and property tax records.

Established deadlines for scholarship acceptance or denial and limits on extracurricular (20%) and physical education (additional 20%) expenses.

Added requirements for LEAs acting as qualifying providers including distinct enrollment systems and transparent fee structures.

Prohibited program managers and contracted entities from charging processing fees to families.

Created new audit and reporting requirements including annual audits by independent accountants and detailed reports to the Education Interim Committee.

Created new appeals process for denied reimbursements and eligibility suspensions with specific timelines.

Modified eligibility requirements to include verification of primary residence in Utah and portfolio completion for special needs students.

Set effective date of May 7, 2025, with special provisions for transition periods between contracted entities.