Governor Bruce Rauner says if lawmakers would give him the authority, he could fund MAP Grants and other higher education priorities right away.
Ahead of a tour of southern Illinois Wednesday, Rauner spoke to the Jackson-Williamson County Rotary Club Tuesday evening, and says if he could sweep special accounts, the MAP Grant crisis could end.
“We could fund MAP Grants right today, if we did procurement reform. That releases a half-billion dollars in savings. I’d put that right into MAP Grants, right now. Madigan won’t do procurement reform, and we don’t have any money.”
Democratic leaders, however, say sweeping funds is a one-time fix, and doesn’t help in future years.
Rauner says parts of his “Turnaround Agenda” – including term limits and redistricting reform – have bipartisan support, but not in the legislative leadership.
The Governor says he's willing to meet legislative Democrats in the middle - but not willing to back down on some of the reforms he says are necessary. Rauner points to deficit spending as a major problem. He says that has to be turned around so that money can get to critical programs.
"We've got to get at the root cause of the problem - the structure of the government - so we can prevent this going forward. And then, I won't like it, but I'll be willing to raise some revenues. But the key is we've got to grow."
Rauner points to procurement reform, redistricting reform, and term limits as big steps to fixing long-term problems in the state.
He says money is available - in special funds - to pay for MAP Grants and higher education, but he needs legislative approval to release it.
Illinois is now in its ninth month without a state budget.