Republicans Propose Tuition Tax Breaks

With college tuition on the rise, Illinois House Republicans say they want to give working class families a break, and an incentive to go to a school in state.

Rep. Adam Brown graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in 2007, but in that short time, tuition’s steadily gone up.

BROWN: “The average cost for tuition, fees and books right now – $26,000 and ten years ago that was $19,000.”

Brown proposes giving families a tax credit worth $1000 to help offset expenses for going to an accredited Illinois college or university.  It’d only last four years, and be available to families with incomes under $150,000.

Of course -giving families a tax break means Illinois would be giving up that revenue. And Republicans, like Brown, have been calling for the state to rein in spending and for a rollback of the 2011 income tax hike.  Still, Brown defends his plan.

BROWN: “Very few issues are more important than a well-educated working class and that’s exactly what these tax relief/incentive packages provide.”

Brown also wants to lift restrictions on the types of pre-paid college tuition funds, or 529s, on which Illinois residents can claim deductions.

-Amanda Vinicky