On July 4, 2025, the federal government enacted the FY2025 Reconciliation Act, which includes a new tax credit scholarship program for elementary and secondary education. The program will begin on January 1, 2027. Under this initiative, taxpayers can receive up to $1,700 in tax credits for contributions made to certain scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). These organizations are required to use the funds to provide scholarships for students attending private and public schools within their states.
The scholarships are limited to students from families earning less than 300% of their area’s median income. The awarded funds must be used for qualified educational expenses as defined by the Act and will not be taxed as income.
States have the option to participate in this program by recognizing eligible SGOs. So far, governors from 27 states have enrolled or indicated plans to do so. Four governors—representing Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin—have stated they will not participate. Nineteen other governors and the mayor of Washington D.C. have yet to announce their decisions.
Wisconsin is notable among these four states as it already has voucher programs allowing some students access to private schools.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was recently asked if Illinois would join the program but did not give a direct answer. He said that guidance from federal agencies had not yet been released: “As far as I understood, those rules were supposed to come out before the end of the year. They still aren’t out. So we’ll take a look at those and make a decision then.”
Steven Reick criticized what he described as delays in administrative rulemaking by state agencies and highlighted his role on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR). He stated that such delays often result in emergency rules being issued without public comment or stakeholder engagement.
According to Reick, “This new law requires governors to opt in to the program annually if they want their states to participate in this choice-expanding initiative. Governors who choose to opt in, not later than January 1 of each year, must submit to the U.S. Treasury Department a list of scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs) in the state that are qualified to participate. The governor’s role is a ministerial function, not an arbitrary or open-ended determination. The determination of whether an SGO qualifies is up to the Feds.”
Reick added that since Governor Pritzker missed this year’s deadline, he should clarify his intentions for 2027 when the program begins: “It would also give him a chance to submit the list of Illinois SGO’s for vetting once the administrative rules are issued.” He noted past opposition from teachers’ unions leading lawmakers not to renew Illinois’ Invest in Kids Act in 2023.
Reick has represented Illinois’ 63rd House District since his election in 2017 after replacing Jack D. Franks.
He encouraged constituents: “You may want to influence that calculus by letting your opinion be heard. Give him a call, I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear from you.”
