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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In 2017, during the 100th General Assembly, the
3Invest in Kids Act was created to grant low-income to
4middle-income parents a choice about their children's
5educations, bringing about a new era for children's education
6in Illinois; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Invest in Kids Program provides 75% tax
8credits to individuals and businesses for their donations to
9scholarship-granting organizations, non-profits that provide
10school scholarships to low-income and middle-income students;
11and
 
12    WHEREAS, The income limit for recipients of this program
13is 300% of the poverty level for new applicants and 400% of the
14poverty level for renewals, meaning that the most vulnerable
15students and families benefit from this program; and
 
16    WHEREAS, During the 2021-2022 school year, the average
17scholarship value was $8,340, and 9,029 students participated
18in the program, leading to many students receiving excellent
19educations without jeopardizing their families' budgets; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis
21Gates, someone directly involved in the quality of public

 

 

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1education, has elected to send one of her children to a private
2institution; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The Invest in Kids program is funded entirely
4through private donations to scholarship-granting
5organizations; local public school districts' funding from the
6State is protected and cannot drop below 2019 levels, even if
7the student population drops as it has in Chicago Public
8Schools; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The 103rd General Assembly let this much loved
10and well-respected program be pushed to the side, leaving
11thousands of students and families without direction as to
12what would become of their educations; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Illinois has a responsibility to grant freedom to
14its citizens, including freedom to make decisions about their
15children's education; therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
17HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18we urge the General Assembly to take a vote on removing the
19sunset from the Invest in Kids Act during the upcoming Veto
20Session and make it possible for these students to continue
21their educations; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
2delivered to Speaker of the House Chris Welch, President of
3the Senate Don Harmon, and Governor JB Pritzker.