Response Wrap-up

February 21st, 2008 at 12:25pm Andrea Zimmermann

I am a couple weeks shy of my two-month anniversary here in the state capitol, but it didn’t take more than a few days to figure out one thing.

Whenever there is a major day here in the Legislature, lobbyists and interests groups flood the capitol with people wearing coordinated T-shirts, memorable gimmicks and news releases for the pressroom.

Wednesday was no different, in fact it is probably one of the most important days for lobbyists and legislators alike as the governor sets the year’s legislative agenda through his budget address.

Predictably, the news releases began streaming into the pressroom and into our e-mail inboxes even before the speech began. Of course, it is impossible to put every post-speech response into our stories, but since this blog is more for insiders this is a perfect place for them.

We’ve already given you many of the press releases from our local delegation. Now here some excerpts from a few more:

A statement from Illinois Federation of Teachers‘ President Ed Geppert, Jr.:

“We appreciate Governor Blagojevich’s recognition that preK-12 education needs additional funding and that school construction dollars must be madem available to build an repair schools throughout ILlinois. However, the funding methods listed in the Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposed by the governor today do not appear to be sufficient to address the underlying structural deficit under which our state struggles. …

Today we … urge members of the General Assembly and the governor to pass an income tax proposal that would once and for all fix the education funding problem in Illinois.

We are also concerned about the continued lack of funding for higher eucation. Our colleges and universities are constantly forced to raise tuiion because the level of state funding has decreased over the years. … This downward trend must stop. …”

From the Transportation for Illinois Coalition:

Leaders from the Illinois business, labor, local government and transportation industries today said they were pleased that the Governor proposed a transportation capital investment packagae in his Fiscal Year 2009 budget, but cautioned lawmakers and the public that the size of the capital program being proposed appears to be so modest that, if approved,woul require lawmakers to revisit tranporation funding in just two or three years.

“For years, the members of the Transportation for Illinois Coalition have worked to make ivestment in our transportation infrastructure a priority of state lawmakers and the Governor, and we are encouraged that the issue has risen to a level of prominence,” said Doug Whitley, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the TFIC. “Unfortunately the modest size of this proposal makes it clear that, though some investment will be made, we won’t come close to meeting the needs of the infrastrucutre in any significant way. If a proposal of this modest size is approved thisyear, we will all be bakc in Springfield in two or three years to approvea new funding package that will enable the state to invest adequlately in our transportation infrastructure to ensure our economy is not crippled.” …

From the Illinois Community College System:

A coalition of Illinois community college supporters urged Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois General Assembly to invest in Illinois’ community college system at a morning news conference today at the State Capitol. Representatives included the leadership of the Illinois Community College Trustee Association, the Council of Community College Presidents, the Cook County College Teacher’s Union, and a Student Trustee from a suburban community college.
The Community College Coalition for Funding was formed to advance the cause of Illinois community colleges, which have suffered from declining state revenues.
“We are beginning a campaign to articulate the benefits of a community college education, not just to the students who attend, but to the public who benefit by the educated workforce our colleges produce,” said Kathy Wessel, president of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association and a board member of the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
The campaign will kick off with an unveiling of billboards all across Illinois. It will then be followed by promotion of the Community College Impact Study, released in fall 2007, that describes the many economic benefits that Illinois community colleges provide to our state. Finally the campaign will bring its message to the General Assembly for consideration.
“Students are facing a much more difficult time affording the rising cost of tuition,” said Lesliefaye Gogins, student trustee at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. “Community college tuition has risen by almost 50 percent in the last five years.”
Perry Buckley, president of the Cook County Teachers Union, noted that community colleges enroll the vast majority of minority students in Illinois higher education. “When you make access to higher education more difficult for students in community colleges, you are making it particularly painful to the students who need it most,” he said. …

Entry Filed under: Illinois Budget, Taxes, School Funding, Rod Blagojevich, Illinois politics