Bill to give babies $50 passes Illinois House

Posted on April 3, 2019
State Rep. Robyn Gabel says her bill to start $50 college savings accounts at birth for all children will get families thinking about college. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

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]

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