Senate Overrides Rauner's School Funding Veto

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Senate Democrats on Sunday voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's amendatory veto of a school funding bill. The House now has to sign off on an override before state funding can be distributed to the hundreds of public school districts across the state. The Senate wound up voting 38-19 to override Rauner's rejection of Senate Bill 1.

In July, Illinois lawmakers also had to override Rauner's veto to approve a state budget.

Rauner's amendatory veto would have meant $463 million less for Chicago Public Schools compared with the version OKed by Democrats, the balance of which would be distributed to other districts throughout the state, according to the Chicago Tribune. The change would have meant that 97 percent of Illinois districts would have received more money, and CPS would have seen significantly less.

Prior to the Senate vote, Rauner took to Twitter to appeal to legislators. "State senators have a choice today: vote to send more money to our neediest school districts or vote to send Chicago another bailout," he said in a series of tweets. "If lawmakers refuse to support the numbers and my changes, then let’s come together to find another solution. Our children need action & deserve so much better than what we currently have. This is too important to let partisan games interfere." Rauner also tweeted, "(Illinois State Board of Education) numbers show my plan sends more money to almost every school district across IL and some of our neediest districts get millions more."

“Today’s override renews a commitment to providing a quality education for all children in Illinois," State Sen. Pat McGuire (D-Joliet) said in a statement on Sunday. "Some of our neediest school districts would finally receive the resources they need to properly educate the students they serve. I urge my colleagues in the House to support this measure and fix our inequitable formula.”

One Republican, Sen. Sam McCann of Plainview, joined Democrats in rejecting Rauner's version of the school funding bill.

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) blasted Democrats' vote in a statement.

"Instead of using Governor Rauner’s Amendatory Veto as a bridge to bipartisan compromise on education funding reform, Senate Democrats instead chose to override the Governor’s Amendatory Veto of Senate Bill 1 on their own, legislation that treats Chicago Public Schools better than the rest of the state," Rezin said. "I am fighting for more new funding and true equity for schools in my Senate District," she added, saying legislators are "running out of time" to find a compromise.

• Illinois Has Budget, But No School Funding Plan

(AP Photo/G-Jun Yam, File)