Sen. Rose offered the following comments on the state budget impasse and an attempt to find common ground amongst the parties and finally bring an end to this embarrassing and costly saga.
“We are nearing agreement on a lot of issues amongst the Senate Democrats, the Governor’s office and our Republican House and Senate caucuses. We are pushing budget cuts, needed reforms, property tax relief, and an effort to truly balance the budget that starts to pay off our backlog of bills. But until last week, Speaker Madigan and his House Democrats refused to come to the table and negotiate. I believe that an end to our state’s longstanding inequitable distribution of school funding can be an area that brings people to together. To that end, the Republicans have offered SB 1124 as a legitimate compromise position to the Democrat funding reform bill, SB 1 that was tilted substantially toward the Chicago Public School system that the Democrat leadership represents.
“Bottom Line: SB 1 would send 70% of new funds to Chicago Public Schools which only has 19% of the students in the state.
“SB 1124 is good for kids in EVERY district in Illinois and is better at hitting the adequacy target. In our area, it DOUBLES the funding. Today, we are releasing a side-by-side comparison of the numbers released by the non-partisan State Board of Education.
“Finally, while school kids across Illinois fare much better under SB 1124, this is also good for local property taxpayers to the extent that property taxes lead to increases when State funding decreases. This new funding model will help lessen the burden and reliance on local property taxes to fund local schools.
“This is a critical issue that if we can reach agreement, it can help us get a state budget.”
– State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet)