Among the many things Utah voucher recipients can spend their $8,000 taxpayer-funded scholarship on are ski passes — but a Utah bill aims to stop that.
Single- and multi-day ski passes for adults and children are currently allowable expenses under Utah’s $82 million school voucher program. This bill seeks to end that.
Among the many things Utah voucher recipients can spend their $8,000 taxpayer-funded scholarship on are ski passes — but a Utah bill aims to stop that.
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.
While families can’t buy season passes with scholarship funds, single- and multi-day ski passes are allowed. The Utah Fits All website also notes that anaccompanying pass for an adult “chaperone” is also an allowed expense.
A day pass for a child under 12 at Alta Ski Area, for instance, runs from $95 to $105 depending on the day. An adult day pass costs between $179- $199.
Multi-day passes for children under 12 there range from $190 for three daysto $945 for a 10 days, depending on the dates. Adult multi-day passes run from $398 forthree days and up to $1,613 for a 10 days.
Students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades can also access Ski Utah’s Passport program for $89, which provides three days of skiing at each of Utah’s 15 resorts, totaling 45 days. Adults, however, must pay for a separate day pass to accompany their children.
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