Illinois lawmakers get back to work this week, with about two weeks left in their spring session to finalize a budget.
The budget was also on Governor Bruce Rauner’s mind when he visited Southern Illinois University’s Carbondale campus last weekend to deliver a graduation speech.
"We are in that balancing act right now,” Rauner said. “Everybody's going to have to give a little bit. And that's the way the political process should work. We'll come up with bipartisan solutions that are really a compromise."
Rauner says he's sorry he had to propose dramatic cuts to higher education, but says he must hold the line on spending.
"While we restructure, it's going to be painful,” Rauner said. “I apologize for that. I don't like that. But we've got to do it. When we restructure the government, shrink the bureaucracy and wasteful spending that's pretty rampant in our government, then we'll have the resources to put back into our education, and education will be the top priority."
Rauner proposed a 31 percent cut to state universities. Northern Illinois University would lose $29 million under the governor’s plan.
Opponents say there are other options, and Rauner says he's willing to hear them. The governor says negotiations continue, and everyone will have to give a little in order to reach a compromise.
Meanwhile, it’s the University of Illinois system's new president’s first week on the job. Tim Killeen will begin lobbying for state funding in the face of the governor’s proposed budget cuts.
Killeen was selected as the U of I's 20th president back in November, a couple weeks after Bruce Rauner was elected governor. He joked with an audience in Urbana he feels equipped to handle the state's financial impact on the University.
"For one, I am a huge optimist,” Killeen said. “And I understand that Cub fans are also optimists in Illinois."
Killeen says he's committed to fostering a relationship with the governor and the legislature, and says he'll push for state support for the U of I, beginning now. Legislative action could affect U of I's tuition rates, research opportunities and the state's economic growth.
- Jennifer Fuller and Hannah Meisel contributed to this report.
