By Andy Dahn

BLOOMINGTON – A bill passed by the Illinois legislature last week provided state colleges and universities with $600 million in emergency funding.

District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly said while he’s still not happy with the budget impasse in Springfield, he was happy that hurting colleges received the funding.

“Fortunately, we got our money this year,” Reilly said. “We don’t have a budget, but we got our money for Pre-K through 12th grade. Higher education and universities have been waiting for that and I’m very glad to see that they got it. They’ve been hurting for awhile.”

Reilly said the state still has a lot of work to do, but the passing of the bill is certainly a step in the right direction.

“I’m not inclined to be too impressed with what I see going on,” said Reilly. “I don’t think there are a whole lot of people that are impressed with what’s going on in Springfield. But I think the pressure is building. I do think that there’s starting to be some reaching across the aisle. An example of that is the legislature coming together to make that happen, it’s a good sign.”

Reilly also had a great deal of praise for Illinois State University President Larry Dietz for his leadership throughout the stalemate. He said advice from Dietz has helped him focus on what’s important during the budget impasse.

“He was very instrumental in getting that institution through that time,” Reilly said. “He said we control our attitudes and that’s great advice. Right now, we focus on what’s important and that’s the kids. We’ll continue working behind the scenes and our board has done a great job over time of building fund balances to weather tough times.”

ISU received nearly $21 million in funding from the recently passed bill.

Andy Dahn can be reached at [email protected].