July 22, 2016

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois Senate,

99th General Assembly:

Today I return Senate Bill 2536, one of several bills backed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Illinois & Indiana that would impose unaffordable obligations on the State’s taxpayers.

The bill concerns the Child Care Assistance Program operated by the Illinois Department of Human Services. Over the last decade, the program’s budget has ballooned over 70%, while enrollment dropped.  In other words, we are already directing more and more of our scarce state resources to this program, but not serving more children as a result.

Undeterred by its past actions that have contributed to the poor fiscal state of the State, SEIU is asking for more, including additional training and health insurance premiums. Specifically, Senate Bill 2536 would mandate expensive orientation and annual training for childcare providers. The cost of that change alone would be additional $36 million per year. As with other bills advanced by SEIU, this legislation lacks funding to pay for this significant increase in the costs of this program.

Training and health insurance contributions are negotiated during collective bargaining.  Negotiations for a new contract are ongoing. The parties will eventually resolve how much the State’s taxpayers should spend on training and health insurance for employees in the Child Care Assistance Program. Senate Bill 2536 is as unnecessary as it is unaffordable.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 2536 entitled “AN ACT concerning public aid”, with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner
GOVERNOR