Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Amy Grant (R-Wheaton) said she will continue to seek ways to save the Invest In Kids Tax Scholarship Program, despite the $75 million program being cut from the $50.4 billion state budget.

“Even though the Invest in Kids Scholarship program is not in the FY2024 budget, we cannot stop fighting for the disadvantaged children that benefit from this program,” Grant said on Facebook. “As long as I'm your State Representative, I will continue pressing for the extension of this program.”

Grant added comments on the House floor the day following the budget's release:

“Invest in Kids scholarship program is something that I really spent a lot of time talking about and working on these past few years. It is one of the rare pieces of legislation that came out of this body back in 2017 that portions of both parties could support. Unfortunately, this had a sunset and I have a feeling I know why the sunset was used. We all know why. But I don't want to talk about that now.”

“However, as we saw in the budget given to us last night, this program was not included,” Grant continued. “What was included was 5.5% pay raise for legislators on top of an extra 2.5% in cost of living adjustment. Oh, and free health care for undocumented immigrants. So if I have this right, this body cares more about giving themselves pay raises, providing health care benefits to people who are not even citizens, than we care about helping Illinois children from disadvantaged backgrounds get a safe and quality education.”

“I hope and pray that children and families who are about to have this program ripped away from them will one day forgive us," Grant said. "The advocates are not going away. They're not backing down. They're going to work hard to secure this program. I still have optimism because we have time to we have time to fix this wrong.”

The Invest In Kids Tax Scholarship Program, which provides backing for around 9,000 needy children to attend private schools, is set to sunset on Dec. 31 if not extended by the General Assembly.

“It's not about left or right. It's not about liberal or conservative, but it's about the children, specifically underprivileged children and the children needing additional academic support,” State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) said earlier on the House floor. “These scholarships can benefit students who are academically gifted, but it also benefits nearly 1,000 students who have unique academic needs and learning disabilities. This program is incredibly diverse, with 60% of the scholarship recipients being non-white. This program is need-based. Two-thirds of the scholarship recipients have an average household family household income at a moderately above federal poverty level. 70% of their scholarship recipients meet federal guidelines to be eligible for free or reduced lunch program. These people who donate to this scholarship fund are enthusiastic about supporting the education of underprivileged children.”

The $50.1 billion budget received no Republican support. Three Democrats also voted against the bill on a 73-38 vote. The vote in the Senate was 34-22.

The budget heavily invested in education, which both Pritzker and House Speaker Chris Welch (D-Hillside) boasted of after the budget’s passage.

Legislators boosted their pay by $4,675 per year for the second time this year. In January legislators raised their own pay by $13,000.  

“Illinois’ budgeting process is broken. The fact that no one beyond a select group of lawmakers – let alone anyone from the public – had even seen this 3,000-plus page document prior to a few days ago underscores just how very flawed this process continues to be,” Illinois Policy said in a report on the budget.

Illinois Policy reports the budget includes an immediate $317 million deficit and also shorts public pensions by $4 billion.

“While Gov. J.B. Pritzker has touted his administration’s handling of the state’s pension crisis – including making $200 million in additional pension contributions in the 2024 budget – state budgets continue to shortchange pensions by billions of dollars annually. The effects of year after year of paying in too little has resulted in massive growth in pension debt, which now stands at $140 billion, according to state estimates,” Illinois Policy reports.

“It is likely much worse: independent estimates put the figure at more than $300 billion, using assumptions that are more realistic than the state’s optimistic projections. Refusal among elected leaders to consider constitutional pension reform or make full, actuarially determined contributions leaves the current budget inherently unbalanced and jeopardizes the ability of future budgets to deliver core services to Illinoisans.”

The budget provides for $50 million to replace the Stratton Building, which hosts legislator offices, committee meetings and other governmental functions.