By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Parents and donors are gearing up for the rollout of Illinois’ new tax credit scholarship program.
Under the “Invest In Kids” program, a state tax credit is available to individuals or businesses for donations made to authorized organizations. Those organizations then use the money to fund tuition scholarships for eligible students to attend a school of their choice.
Myles Mendoza is executive director of Empower Illinois, one of the scholarship granting organizations approved by the state. He says interest in the program has exceeded expectations.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Mendoza said. “It’s been humbling to see the amount of people who are interested. Empower Illinois supports 85 percent of the schools statewide to be able to utilize the law. Through that, we’re getting thousands of inquiries regarding the scholarships.”
Interested donors should already be taking steps to take part in the program, which launches in 2018.
“Those who want to invest in the scholarships, first they have to register with the Department of Revenue to be able to reserve a credit,” Mendoza said. “They then can reserve a credit on January 2 at 8 a.m. That reservation allows them the ability to utilize a 75 percent tax credit to make a donation for scholarships for low-income or working-class children.”
The Illinois Department of Revenue has set up a website to accept the registrations and answer questions. Mendoza says other states have seen their credits grabbed up incredibly quickly.
“Our only way of understanding how this will roll out is to look at other states,” Mendoza said. “We know in Georgia, the tax credit became live at midnight on January 1 and three minutes after midnight, all the credits were gone. So we expect it to go really fast.”
Granting organizations also are able to make scholarships available to parents on January 2, though Empower Illinois will wait until later in the month. Mendoza says he wants to make sure all parents are back from winter break before rolling out the applications.
“Some may make [scholarships] available on the second. Parents need to make sure they investigate all SGOs and apply for scholarships,” Mendoza said.
The program is expected to assist 15,000 students across the state. Mendoza says this is one instance in which lawmakers will see clear results from their work in Springfield.
