Full Text of SR1840 99th General Assembly
SR1840enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1840 | 2 | | (As Amended by Senate Amendment No. 1)
| 3 | | WHEREAS, 529 college savings plans are important tools for
| 4 | | Illinoisans, offering a diverse range of investment options,
| 5 | | tax-deferred growth, tax-deductions benefits, and withdrawals
| 6 | | free of State and federal taxes when those withdrawals are used
| 7 | | for qualified higher education expenses such as tuition, fees,
| 8 | | books, computers, certain room and board costs, and required
| 9 | | supplies; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, 529 prepaid tuition plans provide a valuable tool | 11 | | for
Illinoisans to prepay for future community college or | 12 | | university study,
reducing the uncertainty associated with | 13 | | rising tuition rates while
providing federal and State tax | 14 | | benefits; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, The enactment of Section 529 of the Internal
| 16 | | Revenue Code by Congress in 1996 allowed states to create
| 17 | | "Qualified Tuition Programs"; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The Office of the Illinois State Treasurer serves
| 19 | | as the Trustee and Administrator for all Illinois 529 College
| 20 | | Savings Plans; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The Bright Start and Bright Directions College
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| 1 | | Savings Plans were created in Illinois in 2000 and 2005
| 2 | | respectively, to assist Illinois families to finance the costs | 3 | | associated with a college education; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Today, over 400,000 accounts have been created in
| 5 | | Illinois and over $7 billion has been saved for future higher
| 6 | | education expenses; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The Bright Start and Bright Directions College
| 8 | | Savings Plans have helped families meet their higher education
| 9 | | goals with over $400 million withdrawn annually for qualified
| 10 | | higher education expenses at colleges and universities in
| 11 | | Illinois and throughout the United States; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Program was | 13 | | established
in Illinois in 1997 to help make college possible | 14 | | for Illinois families;
and | 15 | |
WHEREAS, More than 30,000 students have attended college | 16 | | using over
$725 million in College Illinois! benefits; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In the 2015-16 school year alone, more than 10,000 | 18 | | students
are using College Illinois! benefits to attend the | 19 | | school of their
choice, including at private and out-of-state | 20 | | institutions; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In Illinois, over the past 15 years, average | 2 | | tuition
and fees at public four-year universities have risen at | 3 | | over four times
the rate of inflation, and over the past 40 | 4 | | years, tuition and fees
have increased by more than twice the | 5 | | rate of inflation; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Financial assistance has shifted away from grants
| 7 | | to providing access toward student loans so that today nearly
| 8 | | 60% of all federal financial aid is in the form of loans,
| 9 | | substantially increasing the number of college graduates who
| 10 | | will face the burden of repaying significant student loan debt
| 11 | | upon entering the workforce; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
| 13 | | student loan debt has now reached $1.2 trillion nationally,
| 14 | | which is more than triple the amount owed in 2005; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Americans are burdened with student loan debt as
| 16 | | there are 40 million borrowers with an average balance of
| 17 | | $29,000; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois College Savings Plans and Prepaid | 19 | | Tuition
Program help families
to limit or prevent future | 20 | | student loan debt by helping them
save or prepay for future | 21 | | higher education expenses; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, The investments families make today pay off in the
| 2 | | form of increased earning potential for their children in the
| 3 | | future, with a college graduate earning an average of $1
| 4 | | million more than a high school graduate during his or her
| 5 | | career according to the United States Census Bureau; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In Illinois, the dream of achieving academic and
| 7 | | professional success is being threatened by increasing tuition
| 8 | | rates and decreasing financial aid; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, May 29th is recognized nationally as 529 College
| 10 | | Savings Day to raise awareness across the country about the
| 11 | | benefits of tax-advantaged college savings and prepaid tuition
| 12 | | plans known respectively as 529
College Savings Plans and 529 | 13 | | Prepaid Tuition Plans, as important
vehicles to save for
| 14 | | college; therefore, be it | 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
| 16 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate May 29, | 17 | | 2016 as 529 College Savings Day in the State of
Illinois to | 18 | | help raise awareness about the escalating costs of
higher | 19 | | education and the importance of saving for college with
the | 20 | | help of 529 college savings and prepaid tuition
plans.
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