Colorado state Rep. Clarice Navarro, R-Pueblo, talks with her then 5-year-old daughter, Jorji, during the opening day of the legislative session in 2013. (By Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
Colorado teachers deserve a break, specifically, a tax break, says state Rep. Clarice Navarro, R-Pueblo. It’s not likely to be the biggest education bill legislators consider this session, but it’s one Navarro says she is “very passionate” about getting passed to give teachers a $250 tax deduction for the school supplies they buy from their own pockets.
Though a rising statehouse star in her own party, Navarro hopes her bill is one Democrats also will help pass.
“I believe this bill should get support on both sides of the aisle, purely because it was already a deduction issued by the federal government, and also because it will benefit our education system and provide a better learning environment for our kids,” she said.
The federal deduction for generous teachers expired in 2013, It had been in place since 2002. In Colorado, the deduction would grow to $500 in 1016 and $750 each year after that.
Navarro has precedence for bipartisanship. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a top-tier national Democrat, is leading the push to restore the tax break at the federal level.
“Everyone knows teachers who really did go the extra mile…sometimes dipping into their own savings to offset the costs of books or equipment, or to pay for field trips,” last November.
Navarro’s bill was assigned by the Democratic House leadership to the chamber’s Finance Committee, and if it passes there, it would go to the House Appropriations Committee. Clearing those hurdles, it would head to the House floor for a vote and then on the Senate, where it doesn’t yet have a sponsor.
House Bill 1104’s :
In previous income tax years, the federal internal revenue code allowed eligible educators to deduct up to $250 of any unreimbursed expenses that the educator paid or incurred for specified school supplies, materials, and equipment that the educator used in his or her classroom.
The federal educator expense deduction expired in 2013 and is currently unavailable for the 2014 or future income tax years.
The bill creates a state educator expense deduction and allows eligible educators to deduct the same unreimbursed expenses that they were previously allowed to deduct at the federal level from federal taxable income for state income tax purposes. Eligible educators may deduct the following amounts:
— For the 2016 income tax year, up to $250;
— For the 2017 income tax year, up to $500; and
— For the 2018 income tax year and each income tax year
thereafter, up to $750.
An eligible educator is defined as a person who is a kindergarten through 12th grade teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide employed in a school for at least 900 hours during a school year.
