LINCOLN — Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday doubled down on his reasons for amending a trailer bill formalizing the new school funding formula.
Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education said Rauner’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 444 could lead to “further disruption and confusion” for school districts.
Rauner on Tuesday, however, said he made the move to correct a mistake that would deny educational opportunities to students seeking scholarships to attend private schools.
“They inadvertently made a mistake and left out, what I am now told, is a couple hundred schools that should be eligible for the tuition tax credit scholarships that inadvertently were not eligible,” he said during an appearance to sign an unrelated bill at the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.
The scholarships were part of a compromise bill passed last fall that pushed a new formula for funding public schools statewide. The bill has a provision allowing for tax deductible scholarships for private schools. But the legislation lacked wording that would have formalized how the process worked and what would be eligible this year. So, the trailer bill was passed to iron out the missing provisions.
Critics — including state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, an architect of the revised funding formula — have argued the amendatory veto stalls critical funding for public schools.
Rauner said if he had waited for his changes to appear it in a separate bill, it would interrupt children’s education.
“A couple hundred schools and many students would have had to miss an entire year (of the scholarship program), and actually it would have had even more impact to those students,” he said. “If they don’t get a scholarship this year, it’s very hard for them to get one subsequently. ”
Rauner mentioned his team had met with Manar for discussions about the bills, but Manar said that no discussions between him or his representatives and the governor have taken place. He added he was unsure what Rauner was referring to.
The governor added he hopes legislators get behind the amendment and pass it as is.
“The changes are very straightforward. In fact, the amendatory veto change that I put in is supported by a number of legislators,” he said.