SPRINGFIELD (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A bill to give each baby born in Illinois -- starting next year -- $50 to start a college savings account is easy for House Republicans not to like.
State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, dismissed it as a publicity stunt and "a way for the treasurer to get his name out."
State Rep. Grant Wehrli, R-Naperville, said the overhead would be exorbitant to administer such a program.
And state Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said the bill is outright unnecessary. "It doesn't do anything for impoverished communities," he said.
Sponsoring state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, begged to differ, saying it gets all families thinking about college.
Children are "three times more likely to go to college if they have even fifty dollars in a savings account," she said.
HB2237 has passed the House, 66-42-1.
