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| RAUNER: "Blame Madigan!' Still! |
For we still have to consider the portion of the budget that goes toward funding public education in this state. Technically, the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner still have the education funding bill to fight over.
THAT
BILL APPROPRIATES the money that is meant for public education. Technically, it
is still pending.
Although
Rauner has made it clear that he intends to use his amendatory veto powers to
alter the measure – which means it can’t take effect immediately.
To
thwart the governor, the Legislature is holding off on sending him the bill.
Even though they already have approved it, they won’t let Rauner act. He can’t
reject it if he technically doesn’t have it in his possession. We're at the point where the governor on Monday insisted they send him the bill, just so he can amendatorily veto it -- he can't wait to get at it!
It
seems the Legislature is hoping that by stalling, they can cause pressure to be built up
by educators against the governor, who would then be inclined to blame him for
the fact that they might not get the state funding they usually are entitled to
and are most definitely counting on in order to get through the upcoming academic
year.
PERHAPS
THEY THINK they can “blackmail” the governor into feeling too guilty to
interfere with school funding if he’ll be the one who gets blamed for the
politicking.
Which
most likely was behind the public appearances Rauner made in Mount Zion and in
Rockford, where he made it clear that it will be Illinois House Speaker Michael
Madigan’s fault if something happens that causes the state to be late with the
aid payments it provides to public school districts.
“The
General Assembly under Speaker Madigan have failed to adequately or equitably
fund our schools for decades,” the governor said. “It has hurt generations of
Illinois children who live in low income communities.”
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| MADIGAN: Not waving white flag yet |
Whether this would work is questionable. Since I have heard from many school administrator types during the past two years who have made it clear that when it comes to the problems related to school finances, they blame the governor!
EVEN
NOW, WHEN there is a state budget in place, many say they’re having their
attorneys study the situation, and won’t be fully comfortable until they see
the education funding bill signed off on and they get their initial aid payments.
If
the governor thinks many people are going to suddenly switch to his side, he
could be mistaken. Since many perceive the problems as having begun with the
partisan initiatives and the desires that Rauner has tried to bring to state
government under the guise of “reform.”
The
governor’s main objection to the education funding measure is that it includes
provisions for altering the funding for pensions for retired teachers in the
Chicago Public School system – a provision Rauner is quick to label as a “bailout.”
He’s
quick to say that he could provide even more financial assistance to school
districts across Illinois – if only we could ignore the problem of that one
pesky district that is, by far, the largest in the state.
MEANING
THIS IS the same regionalism and nonsense of trying to pit the rest of the
state against Chicago, which only serves to build up the hostility and
resentment that Chicago voters will feel towards the governor.
Considering
the degree to which Rauner has made a series of staff changes by hiring
political partisans of the Illinois Policy Institute, it would seem this “urban
vs. rural” tone is going to predominate for as long as Rauner remains in
office.
Which,
if Dems aren’t careful, could easily extend beyond the Nov. 6, 2018 general
elections. It could easily extend into “four more year” of stalemate and
nothingness.
Since
I don’t doubt that Rauner and his minions are miffed at not prevailing on the
budget fight, it will be remarkable to see the amount of partisan bloodshed
that will occur on the Statehouse Scene in coming years – and the degree to
which we all get caught up in the crossfire.
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