Spanberger Will Not Complete Virginia's Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Enrollment, Washington Post Reports

Since Gov. Glenn Youngkin filed Virginia's advance election days before leaving office in January, the state has counted as the first to opt in to the federal scholarship tax credit. That may not last. The Washington Post reported Friday evening, Nov. 13, that Gov. Abigail Spanberger will not complete the enrollment her predecessor started.

According to the Post, which reviewed the documents, a recent IRS letter told Virginia it still had to finish the process. The Post's account says Spanberger cited doubts about the program's benefits for public school students. Her office had not posted a statement on its newsroom as of early Saturday, Nov. 14.

What the Treasury rules require

An advance election is only step one. Under Treasury's temporary regulations, which apply from Sept. 1, 2026, a state "must perfect its election by providing its State SGO list." SGO stands for scholarship granting organization.

For 2027, that list is due between Oct. 1, 2026 and Feb. 15, 2027 (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii)). If it never arrives, the rule says "no organization in that State would qualify as an SGO for the calendar year."

Treasury's own explanation of the rules describes this path. A state can opt in by making an advance election "and then later, in effect, opt out by failing to perfect the election." Nothing has to be revoked. The governor simply does not file.

The Virginia Education Association asked Spanberger to take that route in October, according to a tracker of state decisions kept by eftccredit.

Where Virginia stands on the IRS list

The IRS publishes the states that have made an advance election. On Nov. 13, its page still named Virginia among 31 participating states, the same day it added New Mexico.

That listing does not carry Virginia into 2027 without the SGO list. It reflects the January election, not a completed one.

How Virginia got here

Youngkin's Jan. 9 letter to Treasury named eight scholarship organizations. On Jan. 16 he announced five more. One name appeared on both lists, so the total was 12. Both steps came before the federal rules existed, and neither was a filed list.

Spanberger took office in mid-January. Her campaign education plan pledged to "reject efforts to divert funding from public education to pay for voucher programs."

What the credit does

The credit was created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and starts Jan. 1, 2027. Donors who give up to $1,700 to qualifying scholarship groups get that amount back as a reduction in federal income tax. Groups must be public charities on a state's approved list, and Treasury rules require them to spend at least 90% of donations on scholarships.

Scholarships can cover private school tuition. They can also pay for tutoring, therapies and other costs for students who stay in public schools. Each governor decides whether the state participates.

Once a state joins, its leverage is limited. Treasury and IRS rules note that states cannot impose requirements stricter than federal law, including limits on which schools students attend or what scholarships can pay for. States also cannot use their own standards to block qualifying groups.

The argument over public schools

Critics make the public-school case directly. When Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican bill in March that would have forced his state to join, he said the program has no student achievement metrics, no school accountability measures and no cap on federal spending. In his veto message he wrote that Republicans in Washington "have given private voucher expansion carte blanche to run roughshod over public education in this country—and a blank check to do so at taxpayer expense."

Even some longtime voucher critics see the credit as different. Josh Cowen, a Michigan State University education policy professor who has spent years studying vouchers, said the tax credit "differs meaningfully from state vouchers, many of the criticisms of which I helped develop nationally."

That distinction matters for Virginia. The credit can fund services for children who remain in public schools, not only private tuition. Spanberger's stated doubts, as relayed by the Post, concern exactly that question of benefit to public school students.

What happens next

Spanberger's office has not said publicly whether the Post's account is accurate or explained the decision itself. The Feb. 15, 2027 deadline is the date that settles it. If Virginia files no SGO list by then, no Virginia organization qualifies for 2027, even if the IRS page still shows the state as participating.

Virginia would also be the one state to move from the IRS participant list toward the exit. The tracker's count of states in the program stays at 31 only because it adds New York, whose governor has decided to join but whose election is not yet on the IRS page.