How To Take In $33 Million In Taxpayer Dollars: Partner With The Catholic Church

WBEZ reports:

Illinois lawmakers last August passed a scholarship program that allows thousands of low- and moderate-income kids to attend private schools, with taxpayers footing the bill.

Now, the small advocacy organization that drafted the tax credit scholarship legislation and lobbied for it behind the scenes, has emerged as the main group collecting donations and handing out scholarships. The group changed its name in November to Empower Illinois and now controls $33 million in taxpayer contributions. That’s 74 percent of all scholarship donations pledged statewide since the program began in January.

Crucial to Empower Illinois’ meteoric growth has been an alliance with the Catholic Church — a setup that is benefiting both groups in their rush to secure scholarship money and the power it could bring with it, including the power to influence future state education policy.

The “Invest in Kids” state tax credit scholarships are funded by taxpayers, who then get a credit to reduce or eliminate their tax liability with the state. The cap on donations — $100 million — makes it the biggest first-time tax credit scholarship program in the country.

Education in Illinois....