Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) presented a bill that would subject Illinois private schools to more public regulation if they accepted scholarship money from the Invest in Kids program. Some of her colleagues, like Rep. Curtis Tarver (D-Chicago), vigorously defended the program, which could be cut under Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposed budget

House lawmakers scrambled partisan fault lines during a discussion of public funding for private education on Thursday, as legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed varying levels of support for the Invest in Kids program and a proposal to rein it in.

During a meeting of the House Revenue and Finance Committee, Democrats like Rep. Curtis Tarver (D-Chicago) and Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford) joined their republican counterparts to express support for the Invest in Kids program, which provides scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools through income tax credits for donors.