By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – A bill to give each baby born in Illinois – starting next year – $50 to start a college savings account is easy for House Republicans not to like.
State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Jacksonville) dismissed it as a publicity stunt: “I think it’s a way for the treasurer to get his name out. I don’t think it’s right.”
State Rep. Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) criticized the overhead: “If you are an investor in a mutual fund, if you have a ten percent load, you’re being ripped off!”
State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) said the bill’s outright unnecessary: “This is just another tier of stratification with the working class versus the white-collar workers. This favors families that can send their kids to college. It doesn’t do anything for the blue-collar workers. It doesn’t do anything for impoverished communities. It’s just more welfare for the rich.”
State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) begged to differ, saying it gets all families thinking about college: “Research shows that they are three times more likely to go to college if they have even fifty dollars in a savings account for them and four times more likely to graduate.”
HB2237 has passed the House, 66-42-1.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]