Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) chastised Senate Democrats for their efforts to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of the state's K-12 funding bill, suggesting that Democrats came close to meeting Republicans halfway but then turned away.
“Standing alone … I voted for the budget package last month, including the tax increase, and I did that because [with regards to] reforms -- respectively -- your party still doesn't get it," Righter said. "One day you will, but you’re not getting it. But on the financial side, you at least came within shouting distance of being fair and meeting us halfway. You did. And that was part of the reason I voted for (the budget and tax hike). You are back to your old habits today."
Senate Bill 1 passed the House and Senate in May, but Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) refused to send it to Rauner, ostensibly for fear of just such a veto. Rauner ended up calling a special session in July to get the bill moved along. Cullerton sent the bill to Rauner on July 31, the last day of the session.
Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon)
Rauner immediately issued an amendatory veto of SB1 to remove additional provisions he saw as unfairly beneficial to Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Democrats contended that the veto jeopardized the state’s biggest school system, but Righter disagreed.
“The alternative to SB1 – the governor’s amendatory veto – doesn’t, and I quote, ‘take money away from the state’s largest school system,’" he said. "The CPS system gets more money than in the previous year even under the governor’s amendatory veto. So, let’s put away the rhetoric that is, at the very least, misleading; the rhetoric that says, 'Wow, we are going to take away money from them.’ No, the CPS get more money.”
Righter reasoned that if legislators want equity and fairness in school funding, then they have to treat “all the districts where the kids go exactly the same.” He contended that SB1 in its original form is not the solution.
“What we’re asking for is that CPS be treated no better and that our vote does not reflect that we think that kids there are more important than the rest of our districts,” Righter said. “Can’t we just stand for that? If you agree with that principle, then please vote 'no' on this motion.”
The Senate went on to vote 38-19 to override Rauner’s veto.
The bill then moved to the House, where the original version of the bill passed in May on a 60-52 vote. The chamber will need 71 votes to override Rauner's veto by the end of the month.
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