ICCTA Action Alert July 17, 2008 House fails to restore community college budget cuts The Illinois House of Representatives convened in special session on Tuesday and Wednesday to respond to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent budget vetoes. In 33 separate motions, the House voted to restore about $480 million of the Governor’s $1.4 billion in budget reductions. Only six of the 33 budget override motions were approved. Among the motions that failed to pass were those to restore $18.6 million in funding for community colleges. The motion to restore community college funding to the level approved by the General Assembly last spring received only 58 votes; 60 votes were needed for passage in the House. With this action, the Governor’s vetoes will stand, and the community college budget for Fiscal Year 2009 is about $3 million less than it was in FY 2008. Most likely, the Governor’s vetoes will probably stand on all of the state budget, even the vetoes that were successfully overriden in the House. This may happen because the Senate does not plan to convene during the required time period to override the Governor’s vetoes. Both the Senate and the House must vote to override a veto in order for the governor's action to be nullified. Both houses of the General Assembly are scheduled to return to Springfield on November 11 (following the November elections) for the regular fall veto session. Illinois Community College Trustees Association 401 E. Capitol Ave., Suite 200 Springfield, IL 62701-1711 217-528-2858 (phone) 217-528-8662 (fax) ICCTA@communitycolleges.org (e-mail) http://www.communitycolleges.org | Home | News | Events | Links |