In my work with legislative colleagues each year to move our state closer to a place of prosperity and sustainability for all families, I am constantly asking myself what actions will make our communities safer, more inclusive, more equitable and more just.

As a former teacher and college counselor, the dreams and experiences of students inevitably inform my reflection on what’s needed for education in particular: What more can be done to bring more Illinois communities, including the one I represent, closer to greater prosperity?

A bill currently moving through the General Assembly is poised to overhaul the way Illinois invests in all our public universities, and it has captured my attention.

Despite resistance from the state’s flagship, my alma mater, the proposal has gained wide backing, and for good reason. It raises investment across all public universities while directing additional support to campuses that have long been stretched thin, even as they serve larger shares of students with greater needs.

Adopting this approach would expand opportunities, reinforce regional institutions and, in turn, bolster the communities that depend on them.

This proposal for adequate and equitable public university funding passes the pressure test for me.

After years of state disinvestment, Illinois’ public universities are operating with less than half the funding they had in the early 2000s, far below what’s needed to serve students effectively. The burden has fallen hardest on institutions that rely most on state support and serve higher shares of low-income, rural, first-generation students and students of color; students like me.

Universities such as Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois are operating on roughly half the resources they require, while others, like the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, operate with far more.

This imbalance has created two clear consequences for Illinois families. First, costs have been shifted onto students, pricing out those who can least afford it. Second, institutions have been forced to cut the very programs that help students stay enrolled and graduate.

The result is fewer opportunities, weaker communities and lost economic potential across the state.

And this should matter to students in the University of Illinois system, too. A fragmented, underfunded statewide system increases pressure on flagship campuses, drives up tuition and limits transfer pathways, research partnerships and academic supports across institutions.

When regional universities are weakened, the entire higher education ecosystem becomes less stable, less accessible and less equitable, even for those at better-resourced campuses. Put simply, the status quo isn’t working for our students, our districts or Illinois as a whole.

The proposed funding model, on the other hand, will allow more students of every background to affordably attend school in-state. That is not only good for students, but it is also good for our economy to have more students choose to learn and then live and work in Illinois.

How does the new funding model make this possible?

First, it corrects our historic underfunding by growing state investment in public universities.

Second, it ensures that all universities do better under the new formula but also prioritizes new dollars going to institutions furthest from adequacy — or what years of comprehensive research and analysis indicate is the actual resource level needed to effectively serve students.

Finally, every institution would be required to show how they are spending new funds to ensure the formula is working as intended.

As federal policy alters access to a postsecondary education and impacts university finances, Illinois can and should act now to both restore and rebuild state funding and do so in a way that boosts affordability and expands opportunity across the state. It’s the right thing to do, and it puts the state on a path toward greater stability and prosperity for generations to come.

State Rep. Aaron Ortiz, D-Chicago, earned his bachelor’s degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois.