December 7, 2004

To the Honorable Members of the

Illinois Senate

93^rd General Assembly

Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby veto and return Senate Bill 2257, entitled “AN ACT in relation to public bodies.”

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) commissioners and officers work hard and are compensated for their efforts.  However, in a time when state tax revenues are static, all state and local employees must tighten their belts and help shoulder the fiscal burden.  Therefore, providing a pay increase to these individuals at the expense of MWRD taxpayers is untimely and unnecessary.

For this reason, I hereby veto and return Senate Bill 2257.

Sincerely,

Rod R. Blagojevich

Governor