Rauner vetoes MAP grant bill

IL has yet to fund public universities, community colleges or MAP grants in 2016.

But Governor Bruce Rauner said in his veto message that the bill would spend $720 million the state doesn’t have, “would explode the State’s budget deficit” and would exacerbate an already challenging cash flow situation.

SPRINGFIELD – On the eve of his second budget address, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner told a s… Rauner repeatedly has criticized what he says are large administrative costs of higher education, and he wants to tie funding for colleges and universities to performance goals such as graduation rates.

Senators Donne Trotter and Jaqueline Collins, both Chicago Democrats, said Friday they were disappointed by the veto.

Earlier this week, Western Illinois University students, faculty, and the Macomb community marched the length of WIU’s campus to raise awareness about the need for MAP grants at the University.

Collins said the governor is using students as “collateral damage in a personal and ideological battle”.

While she understands that Rauner is trying to fix the state’s shaky finances, “I don’t think that taking it out on higher education is the way to go”, she said. Rauner has said he won’t support a tax increase without more fundamental reforms. They instead are pushing legislation to provide $1.6 billion for all colleges and state universities, but it’s tied to a controversial bill that would give Rauner broad control over the state budget that Democrats have labeled a non-starter.

Immediately after Rauner’s veto, Republican legislators were out with press releases promoting their alternative plan, which would also get money to universities.