Some 40,000 low-income students at community colleges around the state could have become eligible for federal food assistance, or SNAP benefits, from a measure approved by members of both parties in the Illinois legislature.
But late Friday, Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a portion of the bill, saying that identifying and notifying those students wasn’t the "best use" of limited time and money. Rauner said he supports the underlying effort to help students.
It will take a three-fifths vote by both legislative chambers to save even a portion of the measure, according to State Rep. Litesa Wallace, the Rockford Democrat who sponsored the bill.
“So creating that eligibility for those vocational students pretty much does get wiped away if we don’t take any action on the amendatory veto,” she said.
The Illinois House is scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider a major K-12 school funding bill.
