CHICAGO, IL – Empower Illinois is proud to share improvements to the Invest in Kids Act, found in HB4126, passed the Illinois General Assembly. This legislation will offer greater education stability to currently participating students with year-over-year scholarship priority and positively impact the greater than 25,000 students still waiting in line for a scholarship by allowing for partial scholarships that can benefit even more students.
HB4126 unanimously passed the Illinois House 114-0 and the Illinois Senate 55-0. With 42 Democratic and 23 Republican sponsors, the legislation continues the tradition of bipartisan support for education investments seen when the Invest in Kids Act passed originally in 2017.
The Invest in Kids Act is the law that governs Illinois’ Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which has raised more than $250 million to support low-income and working-class students with more than 28,000 scholarships granted since 2018.
“Thanks to the support of families, schools, and community partners across Illinois who made their voices heard, HB4126 is one step closer to improving Illinois’ Tax Credit Scholarship Program,” said Anthony Holter, Empower Illinois President. “We look forward to working with Governor Pritzker and his administration to have the bill signed and become law.”
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About Empower Illinois
Empower Illinois is a statewide education policy nonprofit and Scholarship Granting Organization created to serve Illinois’ children through the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Empower Illinois’ mission is to expand quality education options for low-income and working-class families of Illinois. Illinois’ Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship Program was created in 2017 to benefit children whose educational options are limited by household income or ZIP Code. Empower Illinois serves as a conduit for processing donations, scholarship awards and program compliance for approximately 91 percent of all recognized private schools in Illinois.