By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – While preschool – the “Smart Start” program – was a focal point of Gov. JB Pritzker’s budgeting, he chose a university campus as the place to kick off a road show. He’s touring the state to celebrate passage Saturday of a $50 billion spending plan.
At University of Illinois Springfield, “most students started their degree at a community college,” Pritzker said on the UIS campus Wednesday. “With this new budget, we’re making it possible for nearly every student from a low-, moderate-, or middle-income family to go to community college tuition-free.”
Pritzker also took a shot at predecessor Bruce Rauner.
“Many of the universities had to raise tuition and accept many more people from out of the state, because the state wasn’t supporting higher education, supporting MAP grants, put MAP grants in jeopardy,” the governor said.
But those who were there are more likely to remember the words of recent UIS graduate Amanda Jones of Elgin. The governor’s office presented her as a testament to what Monetary Award Program grants can do.
“As a child, I dealt with alcoholic and absent parents,” she said. “As an adolescent, I was in a foster-care-like situation with my aunt and uncle. I graduated from Mooseheart High School, which is a residential school for at-risk youth. With all of these struggles, college didn’t seem like an option because of the financial and social struggles that I faced.”
Supporting education – but not the budget – State Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield) told reporters at Wednesday’s event he opposed legislative pay raises and also believed House Republicans were not allowed to be part of the budget discussions.
State Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) also opposed the pay increase – to a base salary of almost $90,000 for the technically part-time job. She was one of three Democrats joining all Republicans in voting No on the budget Saturday.
