Supporters of popular elections for Illinois college student trustees are gearing up for another battle in the state capital as the newest version of the previously vetoed student trustee bill faces legislative scrutiny.

Last year, legislation would have given student trustees a binding vote in board matters. The bill was passed in the General Assembly, but was amendatorily vetoed by Gov. Jim Edgar.

Edgar changed the bill to include that student trustees must be full-time students, that they not have a vote on faculty tenure or salary issues, that a sunset clause be included in the bill and that student trustees would be chosen by a panel appointed by the governor.

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Illinois House Parliamentarian Bill Kasper ruled that Edgar’s veto exceeded his authority and therefore was unconstitutional.

Rep. Rick Winkel, R-Champaign, then submitted legislation that would provide a binding vote for student trustees and would retain popular elections. However, Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Benld, introduced legislation that mirrored Edgar’s changes.

In a compromise, the House amended Hannig’s bill to include Winkel’s changes. The amended bill became identical to Weaver’s bill in the Senate.

That bill was left on the docket at the end of the year. Now, the bill is back in the Senate Executive Committee.

SIUC Student Trustee Pat Kelly said he received a notice from Weaver stating that the Senate Executive Committee will vote on the bill, HB 2364, on Jan. 28 or 29.

Though Kelly previously said he planned to pass the torch on spearheading statewide student support for the bill, he still plans to lead the charge.

I’m rallying the troops and getting ready to fight for popular elections of student trustees again, Kelly said. I want to make sure that our legislators know the students of Illinois are fighting for their rights.

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Weaver, chairman of the executive committee, said the bill likely will pass his committee and the Senate. He said it also is likely to pass the House.

The bill looks good, but nothing is written in stone, he said. I don’t think the changes are substantial enough for the governor to veto it.

Weaver said it is too early to predict whether the General Assembly would override a veto of the student trustee legislation.