August 10, 2011
To the Honorable Members of the
Illinois House of Representatives,
97th General Assembly:
I hereby return House Bill 1353 with specific recommendations for change. In so doing, I propose to abolish the General Assembly tuition waiver program.
Education is how we prepare our children for the jobs of today and tomorrow. No one believes in education and scholarships more than I do. And, because of my firm belief in the power of education to uplift and expand opportunity, I believe we must offer the opportunities that scholarships create to those that are the most deserving.
For the second consecutive year, I am compelled to return a measure to the General Assembly that fails to comprehensively reform the way legislative tuition waivers are awarded. As I have repeatedly advocated in the past, college scholarships -paid for by Illinois taxpayers - should only go to those that have true financial need for them. I cannot in good conscience sign any legislation that continues to allow legislators to bestow this benefit on a select few.
The bill before me today does not meet this standard. Though I applaud the sponsors of this legislation for passing a bill that prohibits legislators from providing tuition waivers to family members, I must insist that they go even further. House Bill 1353 fails to accomplish the necessary reforms to this program.
Last year, I vetoed Senate Bill 365 and asked the General Assembly to abolish the tuition waiver program. In February, I called upon the legislature to again eliminate these favors. Still, today, the program remains in place. It is past time for it to come to an end.
Increasing access to a post-secondary education for all students will help ensure our students acquire the skills demanded by the 21st century workplace. That’s why I have called for an increased investment in the monetary assistance program (MAP), which provides scholarships for qualified, financially–disadvantaged students.
There is no question there is a great need for merit and need-based scholarships. While 147,210 students received MAP grants receipts in Fiscal Year 2011, there were 151,367 qualified student applicants who were denied awards because the funding ran out. My Administration remains committed to creating opportunities for students who deserve and need scholarships to pursue their education.
I ask for your support in this most important endeavor to abolish the General Assembly tuition waiver program, and pending the acceptance of this amendatory veto, I ask that members of the General Assembly voluntarily refrain from awarding scholarships.
Therefore, pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 1353, entitled “AN ACT concerning education.”, with the following specific recommendations for change:
on page 1, line 5, by replacing “Section 30-9” with “Sections 30-9, 30-10, 30-11, and 30-12”; and
on page 1, line 19 by replacing “Each” with “The provisions of this subsection (b) are subject to subsection (f). Each”; and
on page 2, line 17 by replacing “A” with “The provisions of this subsection (c) are subject to subsection (f). A”; and
on page 2, line 22 by replacing “A” with “The provisions of this subsection (d) are subject to subsection (f). A”; and
on page 3, lines 14 and 15, by replacing “before the expiration of
his term” with “through June 1, 2012 before the expiration
of his term”; and
on page 3, by replacing line 18 with “on or before June 1, 2012 prior to the expiration
of the term for which he was elected”; and
on page 3, immediately below line 19, by inserting:
“(f) After June 1, 2012, no person may be nominated to receive any one-year, 2- year, 4-year, or other scholarship or certificate of scholarship under this Section, nor may any such scholarship be awarded under this Section after June 1, 2012 unless the person was nominated prior to that date to receive that scholarship.”; and
on page 3, below line 20, by inserting the following:
“(105 ILCS 5/30‑10) (from Ch. 122, par. 30‑10)
Sec. 30‑10. Filing nominations‑Failure
to accept or pass‑Second nomination.
Nominations
that
are made, under Section 30‑9 on or before June 1, 2012 and that show, showing the name and address of the nominee, and the
term of the scholarship, whether 4 years, 2 years or one year, must be filed
with the State Superintendent of Education not later than the opening day of
the semester or term with which the scholarship is to become effective. The
State Superintendent of Education shall forthwith notify the president of the
university of such nomination. No valid nomination to any scholarship may
be made under Section 30-9 after June 1, 2012.
If
the nominee fails to accept the nomination or, not being a graduate of a school
accredited by the university, fails to pass the examination for admission, the
president of the university shall at once notify the State Superintendent of
Education. Upon receiving such notification, the State Superintendent of
Education shall notify the nominating member, who may, on or before, but not after June 1,
2012, name
another person for the scholarship. The second nomination must be received by
the State Superintendent of Education not later than the middle of the semester
or term with which the scholarship was to have become effective under the original
nomination in order to become effective as of the opening date of such semester
or term otherwise it shall not become effective until the beginning of the next
semester or term following the making of the second nomination; provided that the second nomination must
be made, if at all, on or before June 1, 2012 or the scholarship shall be
deemed to have lapsed by operation of law. Upon receiving such notification of a second nomination on or before June
1, 2012, the
State Superintendent of Education shall notify the president of the university
of such second nomination. If any person nominated after the effective date of
this amendatory Act of 1973 to receive a General Assembly scholarship changes
his residence to a location outside of the district from which he was
nominated, his nominating member may terminate that scholarship at the
conclusion of the college year in which he is then enrolled, but after June 1, 2012 no person may be
nominated to receive or otherwise be awarded all or any part of the scholarship
that is unused or unexpired at the time the scholarship is so terminated. For purposes of this paragraph, a person
changes his residence if he registers to vote in a location outside of the
district from which he was nominated, but does not change his residence merely
by taking off‑campus housing or living in a nonuniversity residence.
(Source:
P.A. 93‑349, eff. 7‑24‑03.)
(105 ILCS 5/30-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-11)
Sec. 30-11. Failure to
use scholarship – Further nominations. If any nominee under Section 30-9 or
30-10 discontinues his course of instruction or fails to use the scholarship,
leaving 1, 2, 3, or 4 years thereof unused, the member of the General Assembly
may, except as otherwise provided in this Article, nominate some other person eligible
under this Article from his district who shall be entitled to the scholarship
for the unexpired period thereof; provided that the nomination for the
unexpired period of the scholarship must be made, if at all, on or before June
1, 2012 or such nomination shall be invalid, and the scholarship and its
unexpired period shall be deemed to have lapsed by operation of law. Such appointment to an unexpired scholarship
vacated before July 1, 1961, may be made only by the member of the General
Assembly who made the original appointment and during the time he is such a
member. If a scholarship is vacated on or after July
1, 1961, and the member of the General Assembly who made the original
appointment has ceased to be a member, some eligible person may be nominated in
the following manner to fill the vacancy: If the original appointment was made
by a Senator, such nomination shall be made by the Senator from the same
district; if the original appointment was made by a Representative, such
nomination shall be made by the Representative from the same district. Every
nomination to fill a vacancy must be made on or before June 1, 2012 and accompanied either by
a release of the original nominee or if he is dead then an affidavit to that
effect by some competent person. The failure of a nominee to register at the
university within 20 days after the opening of any semester or term shall be
deemed a release by him of the nomination, unless he has been granted a leave
of absence in accordance with Section 30-14 or unless his absence is by reason
of his entry into the military service of the United States. The university
shall immediately upon the expiration of 20 days after the beginning of the
semester or term notify the State Board of Education as to the status of each scholarship,
who shall forthwith notify the nominating member of any nominee's failure to
register or if the nominating member has ceased to be a member of the General
Assembly, shall notify the member or members entitled to make the nomination to
fill the vacancy. All nominations to unused or unexpired scholarships, if made on or before June 1, 2012, shall be effective as
of the opening of the semester or term of the university during which they are
made if they are filed with the university during the first half of the
semester or term, otherwise they shall not be effective until the opening of
the next following semester or term; provided that no nomination to an unused or
unexpired scholarship is valid if made after June 1, 2012, and an unused or
unexpired scholarship shall be deemed to have lapsed by operation of law unless
the nomination to that unused or unexpired scholarship is made on or before
June 1, 2012.
(105 ILCS 5/30-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 30-12)
Sec. 30-12. Failure to begin or discontinuance of course because of military service.
Any nominee, under Sections 30--9, 30--10, or 30--11, who fails to begin or discontinues his course of instruction because of his entry into the military service of the United States, leaving all or a portion of the scholarship unused, may, upon completion of such service, use the scholarship or the unused portion thereof, regardless of whether or not the member of the General Assembly who nominated him is then a member; provided that during the nominee's period of military service no other person may be nominated by such member to all or any portion of such unused or unfinished scholarship unless the nomination is accompanied either by a release of the original nominee or if he is dead then an affidavit to that effect by some competent person and unless the nomination is made on or before June 1, 2012.”.
With these changes, House Bill 1353 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,
PAT QUINN
Governor