South West Illinois News

Illinois state Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) wants to ensure his constituents are aware of a tax credit program for helping children have access to private education.

Friess shared information about the Invest In Kids program in a Jan. 30 Facebook post.

"The Invest in Kids Tax Credit Scholarship program has awarded more than 37,000 grants to low-income families since it started in 2018," he said in the post.

The post shared a link to an Illinois Policy article about the impact of the program. The article was published on Jan. 26 during National School Choice Week. The week was initially recognized in 2011 with the goal of educating and allowing parents to make their own decisions regarding the best K-12 education option for their children.

Illinois Policy noted that legislators did not renew the Invest In Kids program during the General Assembly's lame duck session, and as of now it is set to expire at the end of 2023.

Invest In Kids is a scholarship tax credit program that provides a 75% income tax credit to individuals and business owners who contribute to qualifying Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), an Illinois.gov release said. The SGOs then give scholarships to students who want to attend private schools in the state.

The program's end date was extended by a year, a June 2021 press release from Empower Illinois reported.

"A broad coalition of kids and families, parents and private school communities, scholarship granting organizations, labor partners and civic leaders from across the state worked tirelessly and for many, many months to make sure that all lawmakers knew the importance and potential of this scholarship program for those children most in need," the release said. "This coalition stands united to ensure all kids can find and attend their best fit school today, tomorrow, and for the future."