State Capitol: The Illinois Senate today voted to override Gov Rauner’s veto of SB-1, the education funding bill, on a vote of 38 Yes, 18 No.
The bill now has goes to the House on Wednesday, where 71 votes will be needed to override, but it’s expected that will be more difficult to achieve an override there.
Sen Andy Manar (D) said his preference was to have a new bill that would be a compromise with Republicans and the Governor. But in asking his colleagues to vote for the override he said,”This AV is a total rewrite of what SB-1 is. There are portions of these changes that have never had even a minute of public hearings.”
This override comes as the race for Governor is picking up. Just after the Senate vote, one of the leading Democratic candidates for governor, JB Pritzker, issues this statement, “Today’s action by the Senate is a step towards getting the school funding our students, parents, and teachers across the state deserve. Bruce Rauner’s reckless veto left our state’s 852 public school districts without a way to get state funding and even though Rauner agreed with 90 percent of SB 1, he chose to use school funding as leverage to score a political win. Bruce Rauner’s damage is done and he’s proven once again that he is incapable of governing without throwing our state into a crisis.”
