Texas, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio elected new governors who take office before their §25F lists are due

Four states that are already on the IRS's 2027 list will have new governors before their part of the job is done. On November 3, Gina Hinojosa won the governor's race in Texas, Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Rob Sand in Iowa and Amy Acton in Ohio, according to Associated Press race calls reported by NPR. Gov. Greg Abbott conceded that night. All four winners take office in January. Each state has already filed the advance election that put it on the IRS’s list of participating states, and each still has to send the IRS its list of Scholarship Granting Organizations, which for 2027 is due February 15. That's after every one of these inaugurations.

How the list completes the election. Under Treasury's temporary regulations, which take effect without a comment period and apply from September 1, 2026, a state perfects its advance election by providing its SGO list, and for 2027 the list can go in any time from October 1, 2026 through February 15, 2027 (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(ii)). If the list never arrives, “no organization in that State would qualify as an SGO” for the year. Once it's in, the election is complete, and Treasury says it does not read §25F “as allowing for any revocation once a State has completed its State election for the year.” The election is made by the governor or by whoever state law designates (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(2)).

So the date matters. A list filed before inauguration day completes the state's 2027 election under the outgoing administration. A list filed after it is the new governor's to send. Alaska is taking the first route: Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration plans to send its list by December 1, and his successor takes office December 7. Virginia shows the second. Glenn Youngkin filed the advance election days before leaving office, and whether Virginia's list goes in is up to Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

Where the four stand. Iowa is furthest along. The Department of Revenue opened its SGO application on October 30, applications are due by 11:59 p.m. on December 11, and Gov. Kim Reynolds's office said the state would submit its list to the IRS in early 2027. Texas, Georgia and Ohio haven't published an application, and none of them has named the office that will build its list. Ohio's Attorney General certifies organizations for the state's own scholarship-donation credit, but that certification doesn't put anyone on the federal list. All three got in through their governors: Abbott, Brian Kemp and Mike DeWine each filed the advance election, and each is in office until January.

What the incoming governors have said. Very little on this. Asked by Chalkbeat in June whether he would take part in the federal program as governor, Sand said, “I don't think I have been following that one.” As of Wednesday morning, none of the four had said publicly what they would do with the list. Whatever happens with 2027, the 2028 decision is theirs: a state elects one calendar year at a time (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(1)).

If you're building in these states. Nothing about Tuesday changes what an SGO has to do. Iowa's December 11 deadline stands. In Texas, Georgia and Ohio, ask the governor's office now who will handle the list, and finish the filings you control first: our apply pages for Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Iowa list the registrations and fees. Transition teams start work this week, and an organization that can show schools, donors and families lined up for January is the most concrete case either administration will hear.

The undecided states run on a different clock. In the 16 jurisdictions that haven't decided, the advance election itself is due January 1, 2027 (§ 1.25F-5T(c)(3)(i)(B)), so the 2027 call is mostly in the hands of governors serving now. Five of them won re-election on Tuesday: Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, Wes Moore in Maryland, Ned Lamont in Connecticut, Maura Healey in Massachusetts and JB Pritzker in Illinois. So did Arizona's Katie Hobbs, who vetoed three bills that would have opted her state in and can still elect in herself by January 1. Michigan is the tight one, because its next governor takes office at noon on January 1, the deadline day. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was projected the winner over Rep. John James, who had pledged to opt in on day one. Benson told Chalkbeat in October that committing now would be “reckless and irresponsible” without clearer guidance, which leaves Michigan's 2027 decision mainly with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who asked Treasury for written answers on October 22.

Still being counted. Nevada's race between Gov. Joe Lombardo and Attorney General Aaron Ford hadn't been called Wednesday morning. Nevada's SGO intake window runs to January 15, after the next term begins, so whoever wins will be in office when the list goes in. The state map tracks where every state stands, and each participating state's list deadline is on the apply pages.