Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis | Illinois Governor's Office / Florida Governor's Office
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis | Illinois Governor's Office / Florida Governor's Office
As Florida becomes the latest state to create an education savings account (ESA) program, an analysis by the Prairie State Wire shows that Illinois is not one of 11 states that has such a program.
In March 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) signed into law a bill creating an ESA program that returns taxpayer money to families to help them pay for educational expenses.
“Florida is number one when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today’s bill signing represents the largest expansion of education choice in the history of these United States,” DeSantis said.
The Florida law, which goes into effect July 1, is a “universal” ESA program, which means it is open to all students in the state. It becomes the sixth state to create such a program, joining Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Utah and West Virginia.
In 2011, Arizona became the first state to create an ESA program. It later expanded that to a universal program through a law signed by then-Gov. Doug Ducey in July 2022.
ESAs were essentially declared constitutional by the Arizona Supreme Court in 2014, when it deemed those challenging the program were unable to show harm.
There are now 11 states that have ESA programs.
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Which States Have ESA Programs, and Which Do Not?
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