CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Cardinal Blase Cupich is leading the call for Catholics to oppose a measure in Springfield that would reduce an education tax credit.
Currently, if someone donates to private organizations that give scholarships, say to Catholic school students, the donor is able to claim 75 percent of that as a credit against his or her state income tax. Under a proposal by Governor JB Pritzker, that credit would be reduced to 40 percent.
In a letter released Tuesday, Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the bishops of five other dioceses in Illinois are urging Catholics to contact their state legislators and ask them to oppose the measure.
"We ask you to simply call your state legislators and urge them to oppose the governor's plan to cut the Invest in Kids program and instead support efforts to extend and improve the Invest in Kids Scholarship Tax Credit," the bishops said in the letter.
They say it will hurt people trying to send their children to a school of their choice.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois said that since the Invest in Kids Scholarship Tax Credit began three years ago, $139 million has been raised, providing more than 20,000 scholarships. During that same time, 172,000 families applied for scholarships.
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