HIGHER ED SAVINGS PROGRAM

Amends the State Treasurer Act. Provides that the State Treasurer shall establish the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program for the purpose of expanding access to higher education through savings. Provides for enrollment in the Program. Provides further duties and requirements of the Treasurer regarding the Program. Creates the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program Fund as a fund held outside of the State treasury to be the official repository of all contributions, appropriations, interest, and dividend payments, gifts, or other financial assets received by the State Treasurer in connection with the operation of the Program or related partnerships. Provides for audits and reports concerning the Program. Allows the Treasurer to adopt any rules that may be necessary to implement the Program. Amends the Freedom of Information Act to provide an exemption for information that is exempt from disclosure under the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program. House Floor Amendment No. 2 Provides that notwithstanding any court order which would otherwise prevent the release of information, the Department of Public Health is authorized to release specified information to the State Treasurer for the purposes of the Illinois Higher Education Savings Program. State Mandates Fiscal Note (Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity) This bill does not create a State mandate. Fiscal Note (Office of the Treasurer) Based upon Illinois' current birth rate of 155,000 to 165,000 newborns per year, the annual cost for this program is expected to be $9-10 million per year, beginning in FY21. This includes approximately $8 million for the initial seed funding of $50 per child and an estimated $1.5 million to develop local savings incentive partnerships, engage parents and children in related financial literacy initiatives, and administer the program. Because unclaimed and unused funds will remain with the program for future use, the need for annual appropriations will decline after year 10 of the program as unclaimed and unused funds are recycled. House Floor Amendment No. 3 Modifies the definition of "eligible child".