Rauner vetoes student vote bill

Gov. Bruce Rauner gives a thumbs up after giving his first speech as governor on Jan. 12, 2015 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

By Luke Nozicka, @lukenozicka

Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill on Friday that would have allowed both student representatives on the SIU Board of Trustees to vote.

Every year two students — one from the Carbondale campus and one from the Edwardsville campus — are elected to the nine-person board. One of the two is allowed to vote on university business or policy, a power solely awarded by the governor, usually in July. The bill would have allowed both to vote.

Neither Adrian Miller, Carbondale’s last student representative, nor Mitch Morecraft, Edwardsville’s most recent representative, were able to vote during their time as student representatives. 

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“Disappointed the Governor vetoed the student backed trustee bill,” Miller tweeted today. “While I respect the decision, I don’t believe it was right .”

Luke Nozicka can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lukenozicka.

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