The State of Illinois has a new budget, and it contains items that will improve the lives and livelihoods of the Orthodox Jewish community and millions of other Illinoisans. Since
successfully advocating for a state-level non-profit security grant program in 2017, Agudath Israel of Illinois (AIOI) has urged the the legislature and governor to fund the program. Finally, this year, in response to the advocacy efforts of AIOI, the Jewish United Fund and members of a diverse coalition, the security grant program was funded for the first time with a $20 million appropriation. Also included in the budget was a $2.273 million grant to Agudath Israel for busing. This grant is vital for ensuring the safe transport of Jewish day school children to and from school.

Also included in the budget are tax relief initiatives that will benefit many Orthodox families, including a child-centric income tax refund which provides direct payments of $100 per child for up to three children, on top of $50 for an individual tax-filer and $100 for joint filers (for a maximum benefit of $400 per family). Joint-filing households are eligible if their income doesn’t exceed $400,000.

The budget also incorporated a legislative fix to the Invest in Kids Act. This scholarship program, which was set to expire at the end of 2022, was extended by a year in last year’s budget but additional adjustments were needed to ensure the extension functioned properly. Thankfully, these changes were included in the final Budget Implementation Bill (BIMP) that was unveiled late Friday night.

AIOI applauds the legislature and Governor Pritzker for including the Orthodox community’s priorities in this budget, from busing and security funding to tax relief geared towards families with children. In particular, AIOI thanks State Representatives Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston), Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), Mike Kelly (D-Chicago), Bob Morgan (D- Deerfield), Denyse Stoneback (D-Skokie), State Senators Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago), and Laura Fine (D-Glenview), as well as House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon.

“From the macro to the micro, our elected officials were very responsive to our needs,” said Rabbi Shlomo Soroka, AIOI’s director of government affairs. “We are grateful that they not only listened, but they responded as well.”