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 Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a school
funding plan, Senate Bill 1947, into law Aug. 31.
SB 1947 is an education funding proposal largely similar to Senate Bill 1, but
also includes a $75 million tax credit scholarship program for low-income
students. This will be Illinois’ first-ever tax credit scholarship program and
stands as one of the largest in the nation.
The Illinois Senate voted in favor of the education funding measure Aug. 29 by a
vote of 38-13, with four members voting “present.”
The Senate’s vote followed a frenzy of education funding activity in the
Illinois House of Representatives, where members on Aug. 28 passed Senate Bill
1947 by a vote of 73-34. Interestingly, the House voted down the same bill
earlier in the evening on a 46-61 vote.
 Soon after that vote, the House failed to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s
amendatory veto of SB 1 by a vote of 63-45. Overriding Rauner’s amendatory veto,
which stripped the school funding proposal of elements primarily or exclusively
benefiting Chicago Public Schools at the expense of school districts statewide,
required 71 votes.
Ultimately, the House got another bite at the compromise apple and voted in
favor of SB 1947.
The tax credit scholarship program established by SB 1947 would empower
thousands of low-income students to escape failing public schools. Under the
plan, the scholarships would be funded with dollars put into a
scholarship-granting organization by individuals and businesses with an Illinois
tax liability. For every dollar donors give, they receive a 75-cent tax credit.
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The Chicago Teachers Union was fiercely opposed to
the tax credit program, saying it would siphon away money from
Chicago Public Schools. However, CPS officials said the district
would receive $150 million more under SB 1947 than they had
anticipated, according to the Chicago Tribune.
SB 1947 retains elements of SB 1 that, taken together, constitute a
Chicago bailout. Largely through eliminating subsidies for economic
development zones and property tax caps, the governor’s amendatory
veto of SB 1 would have brought additional dollars to 97 percent of
Illinois school districts by restoring more fairness to the
education funding formula.
The fact that there would be so many winners under the amendatory
veto – 831 school districts would receive more state funds –
revealed how much districts across the state have been subsidizing
Chicago for more than a decade.
SB 1947 also clears the path for a property tax hike totaling up to
$148 million in Chicago, according to the Cook County clerk’s
office. That will come on top of the record-breaking property tax
increase approved by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015.
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