Springfield — With meetings between legislative leaders being held on Tuesday, Speaker Madigan late Tuesday announced he was cancelling the House session on Wednesday, that was scheduled to hold an override vote on SB-1, the education funding bill.
In a tweet Tuesday evening, Chicago Tonight’s Amanda Vinicky posted “Republican leaders left Madigan’s office at 6:40, saying they asked him to not call SB1 override vote Wednesday as sign of good faith.”
And the Speaker complied.
The Illinois Senate already overrode the Governor’s veto of SB-1, after he issued an Amendatory Veto of the bill, that the Governor characterized as a “bailout for Chicago Public Schools.”
Governor Rauner objected to $215 million being inserted into SB-1 shortly before it was passed by the legislature at the end of May. He not only vetoed that provision, but inserted a complex formula that would require school districts to base their property taxes on the property that is currently included in TIF districts [tax increment financing] that removes TIF property from a district’s school property taxes.
In light of the alleged progress in the negotiations, Speaker Madigan said he cancelled Wednesday’s session, but that he reserves the right to hold an override vote next week, should the talks not produce a resolution between the Governor’s position, and what SB-1 would make law, if the House were able to override the Governor’s veto. But it remains questionable if the House has the 71 votes needed to override.
