Bipartisan vote on $600M higher ed bill called spark of hope

Illinois lawmakers on Friday approved a big short-time fix to fund the state’s public universities and community colleges in what the governor’s administration is calling a bipartisan glimmer of hope needed to solve the state’s budget impasse.

Illinois State Comptroller Leslie Munger on Friday said payments to universities, community colleges and to students with Monetary Award Program grants will start immediately.

While state universities are grateful, the funding will only keep the doors open for the rest of the semester, and layoffs are still on the way without a full state budget in a stalemate that’s reached 10 months.

Statehouse sources say a deal for higher education funding was nearly made on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, the bill was pulled from the House with no explanation.

It sailed through on Friday, after some closed-door meetings between lawmakers.

A longtime statehouse source said there was some uncharacteristic “chaos” in the House Democratic caucus. There was some dissension about the vote with Senate Republicans as well, as some questioned why Chicago State would get more funding than other universities.

But assurances by the Rauner administration that there would be a way to fund the bill helped to seal the deal, according to sources. And the Legislative Black Caucus knew CSU needed money or it could be closing its doors for good. The group of legislators was instrumental in getting the bill passed and also stressed the need for a bill to fund social services, just before the House bill was approved.

The House on Friday voted 106-2, while the Senate unanimously passed the bill, which will send $600 million to help stem the financial crises at the state’s public universities and community colleges. It also includes $160 million in tuition grants for low-income students.

The Senate also unanimously advanced a bill that will bridge funding for higher education and critical human services.

The House should take up that bill when legislators return after a one-week break.

Democrats and Republicans had previously split the vote on several higher education bills, with some Republicans stressing there was no source of revenue to pay for the emergency funding.

But Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, on the Senate floor, hinted what it takes to get bipartisan support for a bill: revenue.

“Every bit of spending in this bill is paid for — both Higher Ed and Human Services. That is the model we are trying to achieve. That is the sort of reset in budgeting we need for this state,” Radogno said of the Senate bill to fund higher education and human services.

Money from the higher education stopgap bill will come from a specialized education fund supported by income tax revenue.

Munger said there is $354 million on hand in the state’s Education Assistance Fund, and the $600 million approved by the General Assembly will allow the state to immediately pay student MAP grants and work closely with state universities and community colleges to ensure they have resources to avoid further cuts and closings.

“We will continue disbursing funds as they become available, with final payments being made in July,” Munger said in a statement. “Our students and schools have paid a heavy price for this budget impasse, and we will do everything possible to provide long-overdue relief.”

The Rauner administration is pushing the message that a show of bipartisanship in the higher education bill — which was sent to the governor’s desk on Friday — will hopefully help spark a solution for the state’s budget impasse.

“By passing this bipartisan agreement, lawmakers in both chambers put aside political differences to provide emergency assistance for higher education, ensuring universities and community colleges remain open and low-income students can pay for school,” Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in a statement. “We are hopeful the General Assembly will build on this bipartisan momentum in the weeks ahead as we negotiate a balanced budget with reform for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017.”

But many Democrats are still wary about the budget impasse really coming to an end with Rauner continuing to push his Turnaround Agenda items.

Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, stressed on the House floor that the high education bill only has bipartisan support because it’s not tied to Rauner’s “union-busting” agenda.

“Perhaps the one silver lining on this is perhaps, just perhaps, we can take our ideology and leave it somewhere else and work together to come forward to bring our state forward, to save our state,” Franks said. “Folks we are imploding. This is no different than ancient Rome. We are fiddling while Rome burns.”

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan on Friday said it’s “unfortunate” that Gov. Rauner wasn’t willing to approve any further funding for human services.

“If he continues his unwillingness to assist our human service providers, he will be successful in destroying the safety net for those most in need for critical state services, including services for women who need breast cancer screenings, victims of child abuse and victims of sexual assault,” Madigan said in a statement.

Madigan said he hopes Rauner sees the funding for higher education not as a solution, but as emergency assistance.

“Time will tell if Gov. Rauner has further intentions of destroying our state institutions and human service providers, or if he will begin working with us to craft a full-year budget that is not contingent on passage of his demands that will destroy the middle class,” Madigan said.