October 2, 2026
Virginia is on the IRS list because Gov. Youngkin filed an advance election before leaving office. Under Treasury's temporary rules, that election only counts for 2027 if the state sends the IRS its SGO list by February 15, 2027. On October 2, 2026, the Virginia Education Association urged Gov. Abigail Spanberger not to file it.
Update, October 12, 2026: a Virginia school board has gone on record for staying in. The Chesapeake School Board voted 7-2 to support the program instead of adopting a Chesapeake Education Association resolution that asked Spanberger to opt Virginia out. “I want Virginia dollars in Virginia,” board chair Kim Scott said. The Chesapeake story.
Update, October 22, 2026: the filing route now exists. The IRS has put up its FSTC State Portal, where Virginia's designated officials would submit the list, and its participating-states page, now dated October 22, still names Virginia among 30 states. The portal page first asked for 2027 lists by January 1, 2027; the IRS has since revised it to February 15, 2027, the date in the temporary regulations (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii)(B)). Gov. Spanberger still hasn't said whether Virginia will file.
Update, October 9, 2026: Gov. Abigail Spanberger has now spoken publicly about the decision. "I think the current status of where we are remains in question," she told reporters at Glen Lea Elementary School in Henrico. "We're continuing to evaluate the program and where Virginia is and what our options are moving forward." Her stated priority is "the most comprehensive and direct support of public schools across Virginia as we can provide." That is not a decision, and Virginia is still one of the 30 states on the IRS list. What settles 2027 is still the filing: the state is in for the year only if it sends the IRS its SGO list by February 15, 2027. The same afternoon, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said her state will join, citing the program's reach to public school students. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Oct. 9.)
Virginia was the first state to opt into §25F, through an advance election Gov. Glenn Youngkin filed days before leaving office in January. Until October 1, the common reading was that Gov. Abigail Spanberger had inherited Virginia's 2027 participation and would decide only about later years. Treasury's temporary regulations change that. An advance election, they say, must be perfected: the state "must perfect its election by providing its State SGO list" (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii)). For 2027 the window runs from October 1, 2026 through February 15, 2027. A state that never sends the list has no qualifying organizations for 2027.
The union's ask. The Virginia Education Association read the rules the same way and acted on them the next day. "Governor Spanberger can keep Virginia from taking on this additional risk," VEA president Carol Bauer said in an October 2 statement. "We urge her not to complete enrollment in the federal voucher program." The union attached a cost scenario: if 4% of public school operating support were lost, that would be about $940 million a year statewide, built from Virginia Department of Education spending data for fiscal 2025 and Arizona's experience with its education savings account program. That is the union's own illustration, not a state projection; VEA presents it as a sense of scale, not a ceiling. §25F scholarships are paid from private donations, not the state budget; the union's argument is about enrollment shifting away from public schools over time.
What Spanberger has said. Little, so far. Her campaign education plan pledged to "reject efforts to divert funding from public education to pay for voucher programs," and she has never reversed Youngkin's election. As of October 5 her administration had not announced whether Virginia will file its list. She is the only sitting governor whose state is on the IRS list through a predecessor's election, which makes Virginia the clearest test of whether a state that opted in can still sit out the first year.
What filing would involve. Youngkin's January 9 letter named eight scholarship organizations, but under the new rules the list goes to the IRS through a State §25F portal that has not opened yet, and it must include every qualifying organization located in Virginia that asks to be on it; a state may not add requirements tougher than the federal law. Once the list is filed, Treasury reads the statute to allow no revocation for that year. Each year is a separate election, so 2028 would be a new decision either way.
If Virginia does not file. Virginians can still claim the credit by giving to scholarship organizations in other participating states; those scholarships would go to students in those states. Virginia's own state program, the Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credit, is separate and unaffected. Our June explainer on how Virginia could leave covers the stalled legislative route, HB 359, which is due back in the 2027 session. Organizations planning to serve Virginia students should prepare as if the list will be filed (the SGO Builder covers the federal steps) and follow the Virginia page for the decision; Virginia's SGO page shows which organizations say they will serve the state and will carry the official list once it is filed.
Sources
- Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia's status in school choice tax credit 'in question' (Anna Bryson, Oct. 9, 2026)
- Virginia Education Association (Oct. 2, 2026): Following New Treasury Voucher Guidance, VEA Urges Governor Spanberger to Keep Virginia Out
- Federal Register, Oct. 2, 2026: Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, temporary regulations (T.D. 10057), 91 FR 62655, § 1.25F-5T(c)(3)
- EdNewsVA: Virginia is first state to formally opt in to Education Freedom Tax Credit
Originally published by EFTC Credit. Reproduced with permission.
