ANNAPOLIS, Md. (CNS) -- A business tax credit benefiting public and nonpublic schools received a major boost when Gov. Martin J. O'Malley threw his public support behind the long-sought measure.

The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee voted 10-5 to send the proposal to the Senate, but discussion on the floor planned for March 10 was held up a day so one Democratic lawmaker could prepare an amendment to ensure that special needs children have access to private schooling.

The bill itself would establish a business tax credit known as BOAST, or Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers in Maryland. It would grant businesses a 75 percent state income tax credit for donations to scholarship organizations for nonpublic school students.

It also would support enrichment programs in public schools and professional development for public and private school teachers.

"The BOAST bill will increase scholarships for children in low- and middle-income families and stabilize enrollment in nonpublic schools," O'Malley said in a March 3 letter to the Senate committee. "I believe the bill is crucial if we are to stem the tide of private school closures in the state."

O'Malley said school closures "represent a loss of educational diversity and opportunity for our students and will ultimately increase costs and enrollment pressures on our public school systems."

Support for the tax credit found a sense of urgency after the Baltimore Archdiocese announced March 4 what it called a consolidation plan affecting 13 schools -- 12 elementary and one secondary. Under the plan the schools will close next fall, with each of those schools paired with a receiving school to accept its students.

The Senate passed the measure in the last legislative session, but it was blocked in the House of Delegates Ways and Means Committee by the chairwoman, Delegate Sheila Hixson, who did not allow it to come up for a vote.

Hixson told The Catholic Review, Baltimore archdiocesan newspaper, that this year she is "talking about it and looking at it, now that the governor has come out and backed it."

"We may consider some amendments to see perhaps if we could expand the BOAST bill to the public schools," she said.

The measure already includes benefits for public schools.

Outside the statehouse shortly before a March 3 hearing on the measure, hundreds of students from Catholic and other private schools rallied in support of it. Wearing T-shirts promoting the bill, they also met with lawmakers and urged them to vote for the legislation.

The lead sponsor in the House of Delegates expressed confidence that this could be the year it becomes law. "Our chances of getting this passed are better this year than any other year," said Delegate James Proctor.

Several lawmakers noted that if nonpublic schools were to close, it would put pressure on the public schools.

Delegate William J. Frank said nonpublic schools save Marylanders $1.5 billion in annual per-pupil expenditures.

In her testimony at the Senate hearing, Mary Ellen Russell noted that enrollment in Catholic schools in Baltimore has declined an average of 1,200 students in the last two years.

"Our families are truly struggling," said Russell, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference.

After meeting with several lawmakers, 12-year-old Abbey Moran said that "it's hard on kids to have to find new schools."

"We want to pass this bill to keep schools open," said the seventh-grader at School of the Incarnation in Gambrills. "Whether we are in public schools or nonpublic schools, we are all the youth of America."

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