As legislators return to Springfield today – for the first time this month – Illinois’ historic, serious problems have been made even worse by the failure to compromise on a balanced, long-term spending plan. Rauner and legislative leaders met for almost three hours late Tuesday, and both GOP and Democratic leaders said afterward that they had made progress and would meet again Wednesday morning.
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They’ll consider competing GOP and Democratic plans to keep schools and other government services operating when IL enters a new fiscal year Friday.
In this Monday, June 27, 2016 photo, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner speaks to reporters about the state budget and education funding, in his office at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.
Rauner says the GOP proposal gives more money to all schools, including Chicago, despite a decrease in enrollment.
Amid the budget impasse between Rauner and legislative Democrats, higher education went almost a year without receiving any state funding before the governor signed off on a $600 million plan that provided 31 percent funding for most universities and 60 percent for Chicago State University, which was on the verge of closure.
Rauner is pushing legislation that would fund state services until January and provide a $240 million increase for schools over the entire fiscal year. We would hope that the governor would be a little more cooperative.
There’s no formula adjustment in the latest Senate plan, which would provide $200 million less in education funding than the Senate approved in May but the House rejected.
The Republican on Tuesday ripped a Democratic plan to fund schools in the new fiscal year that begins Friday, repeating criticism that it amounts to a “bailout” of Chicago Public Schools. Forcing Illinois to raise its income tax to bail out CPS is fundamentally unfair to our school children, parents, homeowners, and small business owners across the state. But this year, many districts face the very real possibility of not opening or not being able to stay open.
The state has relied on court orders and consent decrees for funding over the course of the impasse and has failed to make payments for certain schools and services because money was not appropriated in a budget. Rauner opposes that and says CPS has received extra money every year.
Bradley says he is also advocating for some sort of short term measure to get the state through the end of the year. IL has been singled out as the only state to go without a budget for a year – and more. And Rauner plans to meet with the four leaders in his Springfield office later Tuesday to try to get Democrats on board with his plan.
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The Mayor requested the state do this previous year.
