August 15,
2003
To the
Honorable Members of the
Illinois Senate
93rd
General Assembly
I am committed to funding education for our school
children, including special education, and the FY 04 budget reflects that
commitment. While we were not able to fund every program, we significantly
increased funding for education (by $381 million for fiscal year 2004) and for
special education programs overall (by 145 million for fiscal year 2004). In
these difficult fiscal times, I believe that we must operate within the
constraints set by that budget and not allow costs to be passed on to future
years. Therefore, I am modifying SB 1333 so that at least for the next two
years reimbursements for these special education costs must be paid solely from
the year they are appropriated.
Pursuant
to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby
return Senate Bill 1333, entitled “AN ACT concerning education”, with the
following specific recommendations for change:
on page 4,
by replacing line 17 with the following:
"year
thereafter through fiscal year 2002 and then in fiscal year 2006 and each
fiscal year thereafter, if the amount"; and
on page 4,
by replacing line 22 with the following:
"the next
fiscal year, and the payments required to eliminate"; and
on page 4,
by replacing lines 25 through 32 with the following:
”Notwithstanding
any other provision of this Section or this Code, beginning with fiscal year
2003 and continuing through fiscal year 2005, total reimbursement under
this Section in any fiscal year is limited to the amount appropriated for that
purpose for that fiscal year, and if the amount appropriated for any fiscal
year is less than the amount required for purposes of this Section, the
insufficiency shall be apportioned pro rata among the school districts seeking
reimbursement."; and
on page
10, by replacing lines 15 and 16 with the following:
"1994
and each fiscal year thereafter through fiscal year 2002 and then in fiscal
year 2006 and each fiscal year thereafter, if the amount appropriated for
any fiscal year is less"; and
on page
10, by replacing lines 20 and 21 with the following:
"reimbursed
on August 30 of the next fiscal year, and the payments required to eliminate
any insufficiency for prior"; and
on page
10, by replacing lines 23 through 31 with the following:
"for
the current fiscal year. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section or
this Code, beginning with fiscal year 2003 and continuing through fiscal year
2005, total reimbursement under this Section in any fiscal year is limited
to the amount appropriated for that purpose for that fiscal year, and if the
amount appropriated for any fiscal year is less than the amount required for
purposes of this Section, the insufficiency shall be apportioned pro rata among
the school districts seeking reimbursement.".
With these
changes, Senate Bill 1333 will have my approval. I respectfully request your
concurrence.
Sincerely,
Rod R.
Blagojevich
Governor