By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Illinois has until Dec. 31 to opt into a new federal scholarship tax credit, and Gov. JB Pritzker has not said whether he will sign on, according to radio commentary Monday from former state Rep. Jeannie Ives and policy analyst Ted Dabrowski.
The credit lets taxpayers who donate to scholarship-granting organizations claim a credit against their federal tax bill. Ives said the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank, estimates the program could bring more than $2 billion to Illinois students if the state opts in. “A married taxpayer filing jointly can get a tax credit up to $3,400 annually,” Ives said. “Individual filers can get a $1,700 credit.”
The opt-in decision rests solely with the governor’s office, not the Legislature, Ives and Dabrowski said. Dabrowski said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis are moving to opt their states in.
Without Illinois opting in, donors who want the tax credit would have to give to scholarship organizations in other states, Dabrowski said. “If Pritzker doesn’t sign this, the money you’re donating will have to be in Indiana or Tennessee or wherever,” he said. “But it won’t be in Illinois.”
Dabrowski, who has said on air that he ran in the Republican primary for Illinois governor, argued the program gives Pritzker political cover because funds can also flow to public schools. “If it was only private schools, he’d never be able to sign it because the unions would never let him get off the hook,” Dabrowski said.
Pritzker’s office has not issued a public statement on the credit. The exact mechanism for opting in and the credit’s start date, which Ives put at 2027, have not been confirmed against state or federal guidance.
