Day 277: With A Funding Bill In The Works, The Legislature Returns To Springfield
State legislators will be back in their offices in Springfield today after taking some time off. If you’re wondering why there was a rally in Chicago last Friday, here’s your answer. The organizers wanted to make sure they were heard by legislators before the capitol opens and they vote on some ways to alleviate the misery the state is enduring.
There are Senate and House bills that would appropriate funds for higher education and various other social services (the 10 percent) that have gone without state funds since July 1, 2015. These two bills will need to be meshed together, and observers expect a vote on the whole enchilada sometime early in the week.
The bill will then go to the governor’s desk for his decision. Absolutely nobody expects him to sign it. If he vetoes the bill, it will go back to the legislature, where the majority Democratic-controlled body will have a vote to override his veto. They’ve tried this several times, and while the Senate has voted to override, they have come up 2–3 votes short in the House.
Make no mistake the phone lines at the capitol will be getting a workout this week. As just one example, the Illinois congressman who represents the district Eastern Illinois University (where I work) is located, Reggie Phillips, has voted against overriding the governor’s veto at least once this year, and voted for overriding the governor’s veto once a month ago. Nobody knows how he’s going to vote on this combined bill, but he will be getting a lot of pressure from people in his district to release the funds (about $40 million) for EIU, in addition to the funds for other colleges and universities.
IL’s the only one!
It’s time to end this fiasco. Children have been conceived, gestated and born in the time since the state has funded its higher education system. There are times for pushing a non-budgetary agenda, and times for making sure the state operates as it’s constitutionally designed to do.
Pass a budget, or just fund the state’s operations. THEN the governor can spend the rest of his term pushing for his “Turnaround Agenda.” Holding state services, including higher education, as hostages is doing nothing good for the state. In fact, it’s hurting the state in numerous observable, factual, real ways (lost wages, higher unemployment, delayed payments, students enrolling in other states’ universities, delayed maintenance, etc).
The eyes of the state are on Springfield. It’s time for the political class to move the state forward.
If you’re interested in slow-motion trainwrecks, here are some Twitter accounts to follow the action in the statehouse:
State Journal-Register The Dome
I’ll add to this list as I have more time.
