By Dan McCaleb and Cole Lauterbach
CHICAGO – Gov. Bruce Rauner called another special session of the Illinois General Assembly because the Democrat-controlled General Assembly refused to send him an education funding measure approved in May.
Gov. Rauner called the special session for Wednesday.
Flanked by Secretary of Education Beth Purvis and Republican minority leaders from both chambers at the Thompson Center in Chicago for a Monday news conference, Rauner said House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and other Democrats are holding Illinois families hostage by their refusal to move Senate Bill 1 to his desk.
“The Democrats in the General Assembly have been holding the school funding bill since May 31,” Rauner said. “This is fundamentally unfair to our children, to our families across the state of Illinois. Our schools must open on time with the full appropriated amount of money for every child, every teacher.
“The Democrats in the majority are playing political games with our children’s education,” Rauner said. “They seem to be intent on holding up school funding until August, when schools need to open.”
Senate Bill 1 funds Illinois’ K-12 school districts, but it changes the model under which schools are funded to an evidence-based one in which schools have to show they are spending the money on programs that are helping improve students’ performance.
It also appropriates about $300 million in new state dollars to Chicago Public Schools to help bail out its failing pension system. Rauner and Republicans have said suburban and downstate taxpayers should not be paying to bail out Chicago schools.
While Senate Bill 1 was approved on a mostly partisan vote in May, it never was sent to the governor’s desk because of a procedural move by Senate Democrats. In a separate budget bill passed during the July extra session, Madigan and his fellow Democrats inserted what is called a poison pill. If the evidence-based funding model that’s contained in Senate Bill 1 doesn’t become law, no schools in the state will be funded. That means at least some likely won’t be able to open next month. Many more won’t be able to stay open for long.
Once the legislation is sent to him, Rauner has said he would issue an amendatory veto to remove the CPS pension funding. He said Democratic lawmakers are keeping it from him until the last minute to create a crisis with the new school year quickly approaching.
Senate President John Cullerton said Rauner should seek a meeting with legislative leaders rather than call another special session.
“I’d like to have a conversation with Gov. Rauner in hopes of getting some clarity as to exactly what is going on. We slowed down the process in the Senate in order to let everyone blow off some steam, politically speaking,” Cullerton said in a statement issued Monday morning. “Six weeks later, the governor’s temper continues to flare. I don’t want him making statewide classroom funding decisions out of a position of anger. I’d like the opportunity to make sure he knows what is in the proposal from the people who wrote it so he can make a rational decision.”
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, speaking after Rauner, said Senate Bill 1 worsens the state’s problems with school funding.
“The Democrat leadership in Springfield, for no legitimate reason, has been held SB1 from the governor since the end of May. That is 54 days,” Durkin said. “The further they hold it, the more likely that the Democrats want to create and manufacture a school funding crisis. I want all schools funded fairly. I want all schools opening on time.”
Rauner said he wants lawmakers to act on his amendatory veto by July 31.
Illinois also needs to reform the state’s pension systems, but an education funding bill should not be held hostage by a pension bailout of CPS.
“We need pension reform. I want pension reform,” Rauner said.
Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady and House Republican Leader Jim Durkin backed the governor in criticizing Democratic lawmakers during the news conference.
