EDITORIAL: 3 chances for Legislature to put things right

When the Legislature’s veto session begins Tuesday and continues in early November, new legislation will be introduced. But lawmakers also will face the task of doing what the session is set up to do: debate and perhaps attempt to override gubernatorial vetoes of legislation passed earlier in the session.

Here are three vetoes by Gov. Bruce Rauner the Legislature ought to override:

Transparent accounting

Illinois’ pile of unpaid bills is not only enormous, it’s also impossible to track because no central office has all the bills in one place.

Instead, the bills pile up here and there in this state office or that one. Under the rules, many of the bills can’t go to a central location because the Legislature hasn’t authorized the spending yet. It’s not unlike a person who throws unopened bills into various corners of the house when the mail arrives. Except that the state owes a lot more — some $16 billion — and has a lot more out-of-the-way places to stash the bills.

To address that, the Legislature passed a measure requested by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza to require monthly reporting of all bills held at state agencies, instead of once a year, as it is now, which means the data can be months out of date before anyone sees it. The reporting also would note which bills are awaiting legislative approval.

This isn’t a debate just for accountants. If the state lets a bill go unpaid for 90 days, the interest rate by law generally jumps to 12 percent a year, which hits every taxpayer in the pocketbook. That also makes it a lot harder for the state to dig out of its financial problems.

After a lengthy budgetary impasse, Illinois’ finances are a mess. We should embrace anything that helps to restore order to the state’s checkbook. Rauner vetoed the bill, but no one has advanced a persuasive argument for upholding his veto.

Student loan jargon

Students hoping to attend college almost by definition don’t have much experience taking out loans, particularly the giant ones often required for college. They need all the help they can get to navigate their way through all the confusing paperwork.

Senate Bill 1351, the so-called “student loan bill of rights,” would require lenders to spell out everything clearly, making sure students understand, for example, how much they will wind up paying in fees. Big loans come with big potential penalties, and students need help if they are to avoid digging themselves into a financial pit they might never get out of.

Student loans aren’t just confusing, they also are an area that has been rife with misconduct. Students have been forced into unaffordable repayment plans. Sometimes, no one has even told them about federal income-based repayment plans.

This is another bill the governor vetoed, and another opportunity for the Legislature to get things right.

Salary history

When you negotiate a salary for a new job, a potential employer often expects to use your old salary as a starting point. That puts people, especially women and minorities, at a disadvantage because the employer might expect to pay them less than others with the same skills who come from higher-paying positions.

The No Salary History Act, which cleared the Legislature, would put everyone on an even footing by prohibiting companies from asking people they want to hire about their most recent salary. That wouldn’t just make it more likely that people with similar skills get similar pay, it also would help level the playing field between workers and employers. Moreover, without the bill, people who start out with lower-paying jobs find it harder to get ahead.

This is another Rauner veto the Legislature should upend. Salaries should be based on work that employees perform, not what they made in their last job.

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