Illinois House Passes Higher Ed Funding Bill

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Published on April 22 2016 11:33 am
Last Updated on April 22 2016 5:05 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

The Illinois House, after pulling a $600 million stop gap funding plan for higher ed Thursday evening, passed it 106-2 Friday morning.

Universities have been without funding since last summer and have laid off staff to deal with the shortfall. Chicago State was set to close at the end of the month.

This isn't all of the money schools were counting on, but the measure should keep all colleges and universities open.

A wide-ranging bill will allow for funding to flow to community colleges and MAP grants. The Senate later approved the measure 55-0. Governor Bruce Rauner has indicated he will sign the measure into law.

Behind the scenes efforts to create and pass the bill was undertaken by rank-and-file lawmakers. Legislative leaders were a bit on the outside of the process. House Minority Leader Jim Durkin says it's a testament to what lawmakers can accomplish.

In a statement, Governor Rauner said, "By passing this bipartisan agreement, lawmakers in both chambers put aside political differences to provide emergency assistance for higher education, ensuring universities and community colleges remain open and low-income students can pay for school. We are hopeful the General Assembly will build on this bipartisan momentum in the weeks ahead as we negotiate a balanced budget with reform for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017".