Dupage Policy Journal

Illinois congressional candidate Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) has proposed a tax policy that would provide additional resources to help families support their children's educational needs in an unprecedented school year due to COVID-19.

Ives, who is running in District 6, believes the proposed tax policy will help with the ambiguity about which education model or models individual schools will be using this year, all dependent on the future course of the coronavirus. One of the options in the proposal is to increase the state's property tax credit from 5% to 25% until schools can fully reopen.

"Parents need to supplement with tutors, supplies, enhanced technology, better internet, caregivers, enrichment courses and more," Ives said in a news release. "We already have the property tax credit in law. All it takes to increase the credit is a simple one-line bill. State legislators should jump on this ASAP — especially after they failed to enact any significant property tax relief last year."

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Ives also proposed increasing the educational tax credit from $750 to $2,500 per child, expand on the expenses that qualify for that credit and expand what expenses can qualify regarding the credit. Ives believes this option could help parents who do not already qualify for the property tax credit.

“There can be no debate about the increased costs to families of having children out of school,” Ives said in the release. “Ultimately, this is about fairness. It is not fair to put the additional costs of off-campus learning on parents with no support from the state. This could be considered a qualified expense resulting from COVID."

Ives proposed a similar plan when she was a state lawmaker in 2016, but the legislation was shot down by House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).

“If the state budget is impacted by this additional credit, the cost should qualify for federal CARES Act funding as an expense incurred during the COVID crisis," Ives said. “Let’s be clear, it is the state of Illinois — with IDPH (Illinois Department of Public Health) and ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) — who have created liabilities for local districts reopening, as state orders cannot be easily ignored."

Ives said she stood up for parents when she was a state legislator and aims to do so again.

"I am a mom," she said. "I know that most suburban families were already hiring tutors, purchasing technology and extra training in everything from ACT Prep to basketball, just so their kids could compete. It is a good thing to invest in students. And now — more than ever — parents are feeling the pinch of providing all that their kids need to thrive. If the state cuts off a significant amount of the resources their students would normally receive, it is only fair that the state provides families with some sort of direct support.”