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| RAUNER: Couldn't wait to A-Veto Ed Funding bill |
Because they waited until so late in the business day on Monday to send him the measure approved by the General Assembly, Rauner was unable to give the bill his rejection until the opening of business on Tuesday.
BUT
THE BOTTOM line is that the measure that details exactly how state funds for
public schools are allocated remains in limbo. Rauner used his powers to alter
a bill to erase portions meant to stabilize the pensions provided to retired
teachers of the Chicago Public Schools.
Which
actually are handled differently from the way retired teachers in school
districts across the rest of Illinois are handled. Leaders of the General
Assembly argue they were merely trying to make all public school districts the
same.
But
Rauner, in his amendatory veto statement, insisted in sticking by his viewpoint
that giving this to the Chicago school system somehow throws things
off-balance, and in fact amounts to short-changing public school systems in the
rest of the state – particularly the rural portions where there are districts
that struggle financially.
Of
course, Rauner’s viewpoint, and resulting actions, are not a surprise. He has
consistently said he intended to reject the Education Funding bill – which is
why Democrats used their own procedural moves to delay Rauner’s ability to
reject the bill.
WHO’S
PLAYING HARDER-ball politics? Does it really matter?
For
the politicking over this issue isn’t complete. At some point, the General
Assembly has to reconvene to consider the changes the governor has made to
their legislative labor.
At
which point, they could try to override his changes and force the bill to
become law the way they wrote it. Similar to how they forced a budget to be
enacted for state government even though Rauner was all for continuing a
political stalemate that had already exceeded two years in length.
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| MADIGAN: Will do all to make Rauner look bad |
Although the reality is that many of the Republican legislators who were willing to revolt against Rauner on the budget probably won’t do so for an Education Funding bill. Particularly with Rauner’s Chicago rhetoric being spewed.
WE’RE
GOING TO remain in a level of uncertainty over public education, and we’re going
to have to wait to see who the public winds up deciding is to blame for any
confusion caused to the public schools.
Particularly
if that confusion winds up impacting the ability of the public schools to open
on time.
Just
as the one thing Rauner did right politically two years ago when he started all
the budgetary stalemate nonsense was to ensure that at least the schools got
their money, the schools are what could cause people to revolt.
The
reality is that many people view the schools as their kids’ babysitter – a place
where they can be sent for the day while they work or take care of other
business. Actually putting people in a position where they have to take the
time to watch their own kids all day is a sure-fire way to tick them off!
I’M
SURE POLITICAL people will make attempts at high-minded, profound statements
about wanting to protect our children and ensure they receive the best
education they can so as to guarantee our society’s future. But it would be a
bunch of bunk.
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| A jolt of political "wisdom?" |
Our political people, on both sides, are acting in ways meant to protect their own self-interest. Nobody is really concerned about society, or the people or the public concern.
Anybody
who is making clear-cut statements about this issue and declaring a “winner” is
merely revealing their own partisan leanings, which means they predicted a
winner weeks ago. We don’t have a winner. We’re all losers, in the end.
As
as Lily Tomlin used to say back in her “Laugh-In” days, “And that’s the truth, pthbthhh.
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