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A libertarian-leaning advocacy group has persuaded more than two dozen Illinois counties and townships to place a nonbinding question on next month’s primary ballot supporting a new federal tax-credit scholarship program championed by the Trump administration.
One of the campaign’s architects said in a public meeting that the overriding goal is to “send a signal” to Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who must opt the state into the program.
The draft ballot question circulated by the Illinois Policy Institute’s advocacy arm asks voters to support using privately-donated funds for tutoring, test preparation, and other academic needs – omitting that donors receive federal tax credits for donating to the program.
The ballot measures are an unusual tactic for swaying public opinion and decisionmakers in a strongly Democratic state, but it comes as advocates on the left and right lobby Pritzker on the scholarship program created as part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
The program would provide dollar-for-dollar tax credits to donors who give up to $1,700 scholarship-granting nonprofits, and those funds can go toward certain expenses for private, public or homeschooled kids whose families make up to 300% of the local median income.
In Chicago — where the advisory measure is not on the March 17 ballot — that would mean a family making roughly $233,000 or less.
As of Tuesday, the measure or a version of it will be on ballots in at least 24 counties and five townships across the state, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections website.
But voters — and the public at large — likely won’t have a full picture of how the program will actually work by the primary election because federal officials haven’t clarified many aspects of the program. It’s unclear, for example, whether the money could be used for tutoring provided by public schools or be restricted to outside tutoring groups.
Dick Simpson, professor emeritus of political science at University of Illinois Chicago and a former Chicago alderman, said the question “seems valid” to gauge whether the public supports the program. But he said it would more accurately capture public opinion if it included wording about the tax credit.
Still, whether lawmakers will pay attention to the results depends on where the question is being asked, he said. Most counties with the advisory question are suburban or rural areas that Trump won in last year’s presidential election.
“If they’re all suburban, rural Republican or MAGA-leaning counties, then Pritzker is not going to pay much attention,” Simpson said.
While the program would not directly cost the state of Illinois money, it would mean a decrease in federal tax revenue at a time when the Trump administration has already cut social service programs or withheld other funding for local governments.
Nearly half of U.S. states, most run by Republican governors, have opted in. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is the only Democratic governor to officially do so, while North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has indicated he plans to.
In remarks to the Grundy County board in November, Illinois Policy assistant editor Dylan Sharkey said that “asking voters to weigh in would send a signal to other counties, to state lawmakers, and, most importantly, Gov. Pritzker that Illinois families deserve these funds.”
In an emailed statement, Pritzker spokesperson Jillian Kaehler did not address whether the governor would be swayed by the results of the local ballot measures.
She said Pritzker will “evaluate the issue through a lens focused on affordability for working families and what best supports Illinois students, families, and public schools.” She did not provide a timeframe for when he would make the decision.
Libertarian-leaning group wants voters to weigh in
The measure was created by Illinois Policy, which describes itself as a nonpartisan advocacy arm for Illinois Policy Institute. The group frequently criticizes left-leaning policies, as well as Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union, which opposes the program.
In a statement, the group told Chalkbeat that it asked more than 100 counties and townships — the state has 102 counties — to include the advisory question. The group estimated that about 30 jurisdictions will have a question about the scholarship program on the ballot.
Most ballots will include the following question: “Should Illinois opt into a federal program that would provide public K-12, private school, and homeschool students with privately-donated funds for academic needs, such as tutoring and test preparation, educational therapies for students with disabilities, tuition, books, exam fees or for other specified academic needs?”
In its statement, the group said its suggested ballot language did not mention that donors will be incentivized by tax credits because those are federal and the question about opting into the program is up to states.
Ballots in at least two Illinois counties will have differently worded questions, including an inaccurate one in Grundy County. There, the question reads, “That the County of Grundy adopts the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit to allow the privately donated funds be given to Illinois students.” In fact, counties can’t choose to opt into the program; Pritzker must opt the state in.
Drew Muffler, chairman of the Grundy County board, referred Chalkbeat to the Grundy County State’s Attorney’s office on the wording of the question, saying that office drafted the question. The state’s attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Muffler said the board invited Illinois Policy to speak at a board meeting in November after the group called him about possibly adding the ballot question.
Sharkey, from Illinois Policy, told board members at the November meeting that the funds can be used for things like AP exam fees or ACT prep. The Treasury Department is still drafting rules for the program, however, so that’s unclear.
The law says that donated funds can be used on expenses allowed under Coverdell education savings accounts. That’s a type of trust that can be used to pay for things like tutoring, uniforms, transportation, tuition and services for someone with special needs.
“It makes sense if people are looking for alternative school programs,” Muffler, who is a nonvoting member of the board, said in an interview with Chalkbeat.
Muffler said his son attends a local public school, where his wife also works.
“I have no issues whatsoever with the public school system around here,” but not everyone feels that way about their districts, he said.
Cassie Creswell, president and executive director of Illinois For Public School Families, argues public schools could suffer because of this program at a time many districts are facing tight budgets. Chicago Public Schools, for example, is projecting a more than half-billion-dollar deficit next fiscal year.
The state’s main education funding formula provides more dollars to districts with more needs and is based, in part, on the number of students. Losing students doesn’t necessarily mean schools can easily adjust their budgets, she said, noting that districts have certain fixed costs they must pay for even if they lose students.
Creswell, whose organization has asked Pritzker not to opt in, is also skeptical of arguments that the program will benefit needy families. In states with universal education savings accounts or vouchers programs, a large share of participating students are from affluent families. Many already attended private school before the voucher program was launched.
Groups supporting school choice say this program would give families more agency over their kids’ education. Last week, during a visit to religious private school Chicago Hope Academy, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said she’s “not quite sure why every governor wouldn’t jump in and opt in for this particular program because it will really benefit children.”
Illinois had a tax credit program from 2017 to 2023. The Invest in Kids scholarship program allowed individuals or corporations to donate to scholarship granting organizations, which would grant aid for tuition to low-income, private school students.
Donors would get a tax credit worth 75 cents for every dollar donated, up to $1 million. The state had capped donations at $100 million, but those limits were never reached, Chalkbeat previously found. State lawmakers allowed the program to sunset in 2023.
Ike Muzikowski, principal of the school McMahon visited, said nearly half of his students lost scholarships after Invest In Kids ended, and his school raised additional funds to help close that gap, he said.
He wants Pritzker to sign onto the new federal program
“Tax credit scholarships are what can sustain a school like Hope in perpetuity,” he said. “God is the only reason our school is still open.”
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
