January 29, 2015 2:51PM 

# *Live Free and Learn: Scholarship Tax Credits in New Hampshire*

By [Caleb O. Brown](https://www.cato.org/people/caleb-o-brown) 

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For [School Choice Week](http://schoolchoiceweek.com/), Austin Bragg and I produced [a short documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmUrrns9ozs) that details the struggle to adopt and implement a scholarship tax credit program in New Hampshire. The program had to overcome a [governor’s veto](http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/336794/lynch-vetoes-voucher-tax-credit), [a repeal fight](http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/18/nh-senate-blocks-hassans-push-to-repeal-education-tax-credit/) and a [lawsuit](http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/opinions/2014/2014074duncan.pdf) that went to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. We talked with three families that have benefitted from the scholarship program and people working to keep the program.

Cato’s [Jason Bedrick](https://www.cato.org/people/jason-bedrick) has detailed the [history](https://www.cato.org/blog/live-free-learn-nh-supreme-court-upholds-school-choice) of this program at length. He also played a key role in adopting and [evaluating the results of the scholarship program](http://educationnext.org/low-income-parents-highly-satisfied-with-new-hampshire%E2%80%99s-scholarship-tax-credits/) in the face of sometimes less-than-civil opposition.

On Monday, [we hosted an event featuring Jason](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JujPMJsOAmo) and two other folks who played a key role keeping scholarships alive in New Hampshire where we discussed the potential for scholarship tax credits in other states with so-called “[Blaine amendments](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaine_Amendment).” And feel free to [snag a free DVD of our short film](https://www.cato.org/live-free-learn-dvd-giveaway) while supplies last.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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