Bill Text: IL SR1840 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: Designates May 29, 2016 as 529 College Savings Day in the State of Illinois to help raise awareness about the escalating costs of higher education and the importance of saving for college with the help of 529 college savings plans.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-05-31 - Resolution Adopted as Amended [SR1840 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-SR1840-Enrolled.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1840 | ||||||
2 | (As Amended by Senate Amendment No. 1)
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3 | WHEREAS, 529 college savings plans are important tools for
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4 | Illinoisans, offering a diverse range of investment options,
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5 | tax-deferred growth, tax-deductions benefits, and withdrawals
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6 | free of State and federal taxes when those withdrawals are used
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7 | for qualified higher education expenses such as tuition, fees,
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8 | books, computers, certain room and board costs, and required
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9 | supplies; and
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10 | WHEREAS, 529 prepaid tuition plans provide a valuable tool | ||||||
11 | for
Illinoisans to prepay for future community college or | ||||||
12 | university study,
reducing the uncertainty associated with | ||||||
13 | rising tuition rates while
providing federal and State tax | ||||||
14 | benefits; and
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15 | WHEREAS, The enactment of Section 529 of the Internal
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16 | Revenue Code by Congress in 1996 allowed states to create
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17 | "Qualified Tuition Programs"; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The Office of the Illinois State Treasurer serves
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19 | as the Trustee and Administrator for all Illinois 529 College
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20 | Savings Plans; and
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21 | WHEREAS, The Bright Start and Bright Directions College
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1 | Savings Plans were created in Illinois in 2000 and 2005
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2 | respectively, to assist Illinois families to finance the costs | ||||||
3 | associated with a college education; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Today, over 400,000 accounts have been created in
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5 | Illinois and over $7 billion has been saved for future higher
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6 | education expenses; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The Bright Start and Bright Directions College
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8 | Savings Plans have helped families meet their higher education
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9 | goals with over $400 million withdrawn annually for qualified
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10 | higher education expenses at colleges and universities in
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11 | Illinois and throughout the United States; and
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12 | WHEREAS, The College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Program was | ||||||
13 | established
in Illinois in 1997 to help make college possible | ||||||
14 | for Illinois families;
and
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WHEREAS, More than 30,000 students have attended college | ||||||
16 | using over
$725 million in College Illinois! benefits; and
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17 | WHEREAS, In the 2015-16 school year alone, more than 10,000 | ||||||
18 | students
are using College Illinois! benefits to attend the | ||||||
19 | school of their
choice, including at private and out-of-state | ||||||
20 | institutions; and
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1 | WHEREAS, In Illinois, over the past 15 years, average | ||||||
2 | tuition
and fees at public four-year universities have risen at | ||||||
3 | over four times
the rate of inflation, and over the past 40 | ||||||
4 | years, tuition and fees
have increased by more than twice the | ||||||
5 | rate of inflation; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Financial assistance has shifted away from grants
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7 | to providing access toward student loans so that today nearly
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8 | 60% of all federal financial aid is in the form of loans,
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9 | substantially increasing the number of college graduates who
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10 | will face the burden of repaying significant student loan debt
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11 | upon entering the workforce; and
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12 | WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
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13 | student loan debt has now reached $1.2 trillion nationally,
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14 | which is more than triple the amount owed in 2005; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Americans are burdened with student loan debt as
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16 | there are 40 million borrowers with an average balance of
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17 | $29,000; and
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18 | WHEREAS, The Illinois College Savings Plans and Prepaid | ||||||
19 | Tuition
Program help families
to limit or prevent future | ||||||
20 | student loan debt by helping them
save or prepay for future | ||||||
21 | higher education expenses; and
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1 | WHEREAS, The investments families make today pay off in the
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2 | form of increased earning potential for their children in the
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3 | future, with a college graduate earning an average of $1
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4 | million more than a high school graduate during his or her
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5 | career according to the United States Census Bureau; and
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6 | WHEREAS, In Illinois, the dream of achieving academic and
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7 | professional success is being threatened by increasing tuition
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8 | rates and decreasing financial aid; and
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9 | WHEREAS, May 29th is recognized nationally as 529 College
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10 | Savings Day to raise awareness across the country about the
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11 | benefits of tax-advantaged college savings and prepaid tuition
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12 | plans known respectively as 529
College Savings Plans and 529 | ||||||
13 | Prepaid Tuition Plans, as important
vehicles to save for
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14 | college; therefore, be it
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15 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
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16 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate May 29, | ||||||
17 | 2016 as 529 College Savings Day in the State of
Illinois to | ||||||
18 | help raise awareness about the escalating costs of
higher | ||||||
19 | education and the importance of saving for college with
the | ||||||
20 | help of 529 college savings and prepaid tuition
plans.
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