January 11, 2019          

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House of Representatives,

100th General Assembly:

Today, I veto House Bill 982 from the 100^th General Assembly, which would amend the process for filling a vacancy in the office of the President of the Cook County Board.  

The legislation creates and amends a special set of conditions if the office of Cook County Board President is vacated, specifically during or after the period for filing nomination papers for the primary election. This process differs from that in place for any other elective county offices in the rest of the state.  This is another example of special rules being legislated for certain parts of the state without compelling justification, while not applying those same rules to the rest of the state. We should seek more consistency in how state law regulates local governments, and less special legislation that addresses local concerns on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(e) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 982, entitled “AN ACT concerning government,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR