Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a $215 million funding bill for Chicago Public Schools that would aid with the struggling district’s teachers pensions, but the Illinois House adjourned Thursday evening without voting on the measure.
So, what’s next?
The House is now expected to attempt to override the veto when they reconvene for next month’s lame duck session. The Illinois Senate already voted 36-16 to override the veto Thursday.
If the House successfully overrides Rauner’s veto, the bill will be passed into law without the governor's approval. If not, the bill is dead.
Rauner vetoed the measure Thursday after claiming Democratic leaders backed out of a deal to pass comprehensive pension reform by the end of the current General Assembly. Senate President John Cullerton denied that there was ever an agreement and urged Rauner to sign off on the funding Thursday before the governor’s veto.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the decision to veto the pension funding bill “reckless and irresponsible.”
“Make no mistake, it’s our children who will pay the price,” Emanuel said in a statement. “The governor is lashing out, imperiling the system-wide gains earned by Chicago students and teachers, and proving just the latest example of his willingness to put the burden of his failures on the backs of the state’s most vulnerable citizens, whether it’s schoolchildren, college students, seniors, or those living with disabilities.”
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“This is no way to run a state,” the mayor added.
