June 30,
2009
To the
Honorable Members of the
Illinois Senate
96th
General Assembly
Today I return
Senate Bill 1905 with my specific recommendations for change. I appreciate the
hard work of the sponsors and the Task Force on Health Planning Reform in
passing this monumental bill and for the opportunity to further their efforts
with this amendatory veto.
Since the task
force completed its work, our State’s budget deficit has grown. In the midst of
this unprecedented crisis, we all must work together to limit State spending
and eliminate waste and inefficiencies in government. We cannot, at a time when
we are confronted with the possibility of furloughs and pay cuts for existing
state employees, expand government any further than is necessary. This
amendatory veto preserves the substantive reforms recommended by the General
Assembly and the task force but minimizes the fiscal impact on our State.
The Board is
scheduled to sunset tomorrow. With the cooperation of the General Assembly, we can
adopt these aggressive reforms and insure that there is not a lapse in the
Board’s operations. It is essential that this bill be approved by the General
Assembly today so that I can certify the changes prior to the sunset of the
Board.
Therefore, pursuant
to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return
Senate Bill 1905, entitled “AN ACT concerning State government.”, with the
following specific recommendations for change:
on page 33, line 17, by
deleting “The members shall include a”; and
on page 33, by deleting
lines 18 through 24; and
on page 37, by
replacing lines 10 through 14 with “(g) The State Board, through the
Chairman, shall”; and
on page 65, by
replacing line 8 with “Health Facilities and Services Review Board Illinois
Health Facilities Planning Board on a form prescribed”; and
on page 78, line 22, by
replacing “subsections (a-15) and” with “subsections (a-10) and”.
With these changes, Senate Bill 1905 will have my approval.
I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,
PAT QUINN
Governor