Carbondale Reporter

In a Jan. 30 Facebook post, Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) shared information on the Invest in Kids program.

“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 wrote on Facebook.

Friess shared a link to a story from Illinois Policy about the impact of the program. The article was published during National School Choice Week, which started in 2011 with the purpose of informing parents about K-12 education options for their kids. Illinois Policy notes that legislators did not renew the Invest In Kids program during the lame duck session, and that it is set to expire at the end of 2023.

The Invest In Kids program started in 2017. It is a scholarship tax credit program that gives a 75% income tax credit to individuals and business owners that contribute to organizations that qualify as "Scholarship Granting Organizations." Those SGOs can then provide scholarships for Illinois students who want to attend private schools in the state.

In 2021, the program's sunset date was extended by a year and Empower Illinois noted that the program's extension was in part due to "a broad coalition of kids and families, parents and private school communities, scholarship-granting organizations, labor partners and civic leaders from across the state (who) 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. This coalition stands united to ensure all kids can find and attend their best fit school today, tomorrow, and for the future"