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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE RESOLUTION 1840

2    AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend Senate Resolution 1840 as follows:
 
3by replacing everything with the following:
 
4    "WHEREAS, 529 college savings plans are important tools for
5Illinoisans, offering a diverse range of investment options,
6tax-deferred growth, tax-deductions benefits, and withdrawals
7free of State and federal taxes when those withdrawals are used
8for qualified higher education expenses such as tuition, fees,
9books, computers, certain room and board costs, and required
10supplies; and
 
11    WHEREAS, 529 prepaid tuition plans provide a valuable tool
12for Illinoisans to prepay for future community college or
13university study, reducing the uncertainty associated with
14rising tuition rates while providing federal and State tax
15benefits; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The enactment of Section 529 of the Internal
21Revenue Code by Congress in 1996 allowed states to create
3"Qualified Tuition Programs"; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Office of the Illinois State Treasurer serves
5as the Trustee and Administrator for all Illinois 529 College
6Savings Plans; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Bright Start and Bright Directions College
8Savings Plans were created in Illinois in 2000 and 2005
9respectively, to assist Illinois families to finance the costs
10associated with a college education; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Today, over 400,000 accounts have been created in
12Illinois and over $7 Billion has been saved for future higher
13education expenses; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Bright Start and Bright Directions College
15Savings Plans have helped families meet their higher education
16goals with over $400 million withdrawn annually for qualified
17higher education expenses at colleges and universities in
18Illinois and throughout the United States; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Program was
20established in Illinois in 1997 to help make college possible

 

 

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1for Illinois families; and
 
2     WHEREAS, More than 30,000 students have attended college
3using over $725 million in College Illinois! benefits; and
 
4    WHEREAS, In the 2015-16 school year alone, more than 10,000
5students are using College Illinois! benefits to attend the
6school of their choice, including at private and out-of-state
7institutions; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In Illinois, over the past 15 years, average
9tuition and fees at public four-year universities have risen at
10over four times the rate of inflation, and over the past 40
11years, tuition and fees have increased by more than twice the
12rate of inflation; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Financial Assistance has shifted away from grants
14to providing access toward student loans so that today nearly
1560% of all federal financial aid is in the form of loans,
16substantially increasing the number of college graduates who
17will face the burden of repaying significant student loan debt
18upon entering the workforce; and
 
19    WHEREAS, According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
20student loan debt has now reached $1.2 trillion nationally,
21which is more than triple the amount owed in 2005; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Americans are burdened with student loan debt as
2there are 40 million borrowers with an average balance of
3$29,000; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Illinois College Savings Plans and Prepaid
5Tuition Program help families to limit or prevent future
6student loan debt by helping them save or prepay for future
7higher education expenses; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The investments families make today pay off in the
9form of increased earning potential for their children in the
10future, with a college graduate earning an average of $1
11million more than a high school graduate during his or her
12career according to the United States Census Bureau; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In Illinois, the dream of achieving academic and
1410 professional success is being threatened by increasing
15tuition rates and decreasing financial aid; and
 
16    WHEREAS, May 29th is recognized nationally as 529 College
17Savings Day to raise awareness across the country about the
18benefits of tax-advantaged college savings and prepaid tuition
19plans known respectively as 529 College Savings Plans and 529
20Prepaid Tuition Plans, as important vehicles to save for
21college; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate May 29,
32016 as 529 College Savings Day in the State of Illinois to
4help raise awareness about the escalating costs of higher
5education and the importance of saving for college with the
6help of 529 college savings and prepaid tuition plans."