The Illinois House of Representatives fell short of voting Monday to override the veto of the education funding bill that Gov. Bruce Rauner used his amendatory veto power to alter. But following a closed-door session, the Illinois House came back for a second try – and managed to pass something that finally ensures state funding for public education programs will be provided, as it’s supposed to.
A
WHOLE LOT of whining and bickering on both sides of the politically partisan
aisle, just as kids are often wont to do when they get stubborn. But this game
seems finally at an end.
At
least until the two sides decide how they can spin the facts of what happened
to try to achieve the most positive result for themselves come the 2018 general
elections to be held next November.
For
what it’s worth, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, issued his
statement at 7:09 p.m., while Rauner’s statement was issued at 7:43 p.m. At
least according to the clock on my laptop computer.
Here
are the full, unedited, attempts at both Madigan, then Rauner, in trying to
claim they didn’t lose the political blather that has been spewed about so much
in recent years.
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MADIGAN: Today
we saw compromise. Instead of pitting children and communities against each
other, Democrats and Republicans came to an agreement on much of what’s in this
bill. And even where we don’t fully agree, we’re willing to work together in good
faith and meet each other half way.
This bill provides
the same promise of permanent funding for our schools as Senate Bill 1, with
some additional items included at the request of Republicans. Even if all
members did not agree with 100 percent of what is in the final bill, this bill
still delivers 100 percent of what schools throughout Illinois need. This bill
is a permanent promise of more funding for schools statewide. Every district in
Illinois wins under this plan.
Through
compromise, we’ve included some provisions that many members would not have
supported on their own. But a package that permanently provides more money for
Illinois schools and puts us closer than ever to fixing Illinois’ broken school
funding system is too important to let partisan differences get in the way.
RAUNER: Today,
members of the Illinois House of Representatives voted to bring historic
education reform to Illinois children and their families. I want
to thank Speaker Madigan, Leader Durkin and their
staff members for finding common ground that will reverse the
inequities of our current school funding system.
Aligned with the
framework provided by the Illinois School Funding Reform
Commission – a bipartisan, bicameral working group chaired by the
Secretary of Education – this bill has much to celebrate. First, every
district in Illinois will have an adequacy target based on 27 elements brought
forth through an “evidence-based model” of school funding. Second, new
state funds will be distributed to ensure that those districts with the largest
gap between current spending and adequacy will be funded first. Third, no
district will lose state funding as compared to last year.
The compromise
includes the much-needed flexibility for school districts through mandate
relief, while providing avenues for property tax relief. It increases
transparency related to how districts are funded through local, state and
federal resources.
It protects the
rights of parents to choose the school that best meets the needs of their
children – providing more school choice for children from low-income
families. By setting yearly minimum funding targets, this bill also ensures
that Illinois will continue to invest in our most important resource – our
children’s education.
I encourage
members of the Senate to also pass this bill, which I will sign quickly in
order to ensure that our schools – many of which have already opened for the
2017-2018 school year – receive their much-needed resources.
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