State Sen. Ryan Fazio, the legislature's most vocal proponent of opting Connecticut into the federal Scholarship Tax Credit, won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, setting up a direct contrast with Gov. Ned Lamont, who has called an opt-in “premature.” §25F participation is now a defined issue in the 2026 race.
Connecticut's decision on the federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC / ECCA / §25F) has moved from a quiet executive-branch question into the middle of a statewide campaign. On May 16, 2026, at the Republican state convention at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) won the GOP gubernatorial nomination on the first ballot, taking roughly 92 percent of delegates (reported in some accounts as more than 91 percent) over challenger Betsy McCaughey. Fazio is the most vocal legislative proponent of opting Connecticut into §25F, and his nomination means the program's fate is now tied to a defined contrast between the two men most likely to control it: the challenger who wants in, and the incumbent who has said wait.
The contrast is unusually clean because both candidates have said the quiet part out loud. In remarks to the Connecticut Mirror reported May 20, 2026, Fazio described the federal credit as “literally free money” for the state and “a win-win for everybody,” reasoning that because the scholarships are funded by donors rather than the state treasury, Connecticut can open the door at no cost to its own budget. Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat seeking another term, has taken the opposite posture, telling the same outlet, “I just think it's premature,” and saying he would rather wait for Treasury's forthcoming guidance, expected around January, before committing the state. We covered Lamont's “premature” comment and his wait-and-see posture in full; Fazio's nomination is what converts that posture into a campaign dividing line.
The immediate trigger for the renewed Connecticut debate was regional. In early May 2026, New York signaled it intends to join the program, and a neighbor moving in tends to sharpen the question for states still on the fence. The mechanics are straightforward: §25F lets a donor give up to $1,700 to a qualifying Scholarship Granting Organization and claim a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit, with the program set to launch January 1, 2027, and a participating state spends nothing from its own treasury to open the door. That is the basis for Fazio's “free money” framing. The countervailing view, voiced by Patrice McCarthy of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE), sides with Lamont's caution on oversight grounds, arguing that scholarships routed through private organizations lack the public reporting and accountability that govern public-school finances.
For donors, families, and prospective SGO founders in Connecticut, the practical takeaway is that the state's posture is now a moving target tied to an election rather than a settled administrative call. Lamont controls the decision today and has parked it pending federal rules; a Fazio victory in November would point the other direction, though the legislature and Treasury's final regulations would still shape the room any governor has to act. The race makes §25F a live issue voters can weigh in on directly, which is rare for a program this technical. Connecticut's current status, and every other state's, is tracked on our Connecticut state page; you can compare it with New York's, see who is already operating on the SGO directory, and read how the credit works on our learn pages.
