Daily Egyptian Editor 14

SIUC Maintenance projects totaling $1.6 million have been put on hold after a bill was stalled in the Illinois legislature early Saturday morning because the widely debated school funding plan took center stage and was defeated.

Garrett Deakin, SIU legislative liaison, said a $111 million appropriations bill that would go toward various state institutions, including prisons and universities statewide, was held up in the House after the school funding debate stretched into the wee hours of the morning.

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Deakin said the appropriations bill was the next bill on the docket after the school funding plan, but after the school funding plan was defeated, legislators adjourned the six-day veto session. Republicans were hoping to extend the veto session.

Take your index finger and move it a half of an inch from your thumb, Deakin said. We got that close but we didn’t make it.

It was the next bill to be called after the education vote, but when the vote fell short, they held it up.

The school funding debate has raged since last spring. Since then, two separate funding plans were killed, and legislators were scrambling to devise yet another plan during the veto session.

The plan called for increased taxes on cigarettes, casinos and phone use to raise money for the state’s poorest schools. But legislators failed to pass the plan, voting 67 to 47 on the proposal. The proposal required 71 votes as it would go into effect immediately.

Following the proposal’s demise, Democrats, who hold the majority in the House, voted to adjourn, leaving the appropriations bill unvoted on.

The bill would fund roof replacements for various buildings, repairs to the north overpass leading to Brush Towers, repairs to the sewer system in the Carterville campus and asbestos removal at Morris Library.

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Deakin remains optimistic that the bill will pass in the spring as the legislature will focus on the budget and emergency matters.

That remains our No. 1 priority, he said. And I believe it will get addressed in the spring.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, agreed.

The reason the supplemental bill did not get called to the floor was because we adjourned because the Democrats didn’t want to deal with the education issue, he said. I believe you’ll see the approp bill come up, but not until January.

But, of course, that’s up to leadership.

Jim Fox, associate dean for Morris Library’s public collection development services, said the lack of funding likely will delay the asbestos removal. He said the library is trying to remove the asbestos so it can upgrade technology easier.

The asbestos has forced workers to use expensive safety measures when enhancing the library’s technology.

We’re obviously disappointed that the bill did not go through, Fox said, and we hope it succeeds as early as possible.