Voters in 31 Illinois counties will weigh in on the federal school choice tax credit in the March 17 primaries
As the U.S. Treasury works to finalize rules governing the upcoming Education Freedom Tax Credit, the first federal private school choice policy enacted as part of last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), proponents and critics are attempting to influence whether states participate in the elective program.
In Illinois, where the debate over the Education Freedom Tax Credit has been especially energetic, voters in 31 counties will express their views on the program through non-binding advisory questions placed on March 17 primary ballots. In three of those counties (Cook, Lake, and Winnebago), only voters in select communities will weigh in on the Education Freedom Tax Credit question.
In 29 of the 31 counties where voters will see the advisory question related to the Education Freedom Tax Credit, the following question will appear on the ballot: “Should Illinois opt into a federal program that would provide public K-12, private school, and homeschool students with privately-donated funds for academic needs, such as tutoring and test preparation, educational therapies for students with disabilities, tuition, books, exam fees or for other specified academic needs?” The question is worded somewhat differently in two counties.
Although Illinois has a Democratic trifecta and voted 54-43% for Kamala Harris (D) in the 2024 presidential election, 28 of the counties asking voters about the Education Freedom Tax Credit voted for President Donald Trump (R). In those counties, Trump defeated Harris by an average margin of 42%. The remaining three counties — Cook, Lake, and Winnebago — voted for Harris. They are the only counties in which a subset of voters living in certain communities will see the Education Freedom Tax Credit advisory question.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/03/13/voters-in-31-illinois-counties-will-weigh-in-on-the-federal-school-choice-tax-credit-in-the-march-17-primaries/