May 11, 2010
To the Honorable
Members of the Illinois Senate,
96th General
Assembly:
Today, I return Senate Bill 365 to
the Illinois Senate, vetoed in its entirety.
As Governor, I am committed to
ensuring that the students of our State have access to the educational
resources they need. Over the past year our State has not been able to
adequately fund the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants and has demanded that
institutions of higher education do more with fewer resources. Because MAP
grants have not been fully funded, more than 200,000 of our neediest students
are being denied financial assistance for higher education, while others have
been forced to make profound sacrifices to continue their quest for a degree.
And some, unfortunately, have had to suspend their dreams of going to college.
Our colleges and universities face
millions of dollars of unpaid bills. At a time when students are being deprived
basic assistance and we are asking our institutions of higher learning to
operate with scarce resources, I cannot affix my signature to a measure that
allows student assistance to be based on anything other than need and merit.
This bill fails to adopt the
fundamental reforms that are necessary to bring transparency, competition, and
fairness to the General Assembly scholarship program. The General Assembly must
do more than enact the provisions of this bill to ensure that the scholarships
are awarded only to deserving applicants. A program that relies on the favor of
a legislator rather than the merit of an applicant is not a program I can
endorse. Accordingly, I must return this bill without my approval and ask that
the General Assembly pursue an alternative reform.
The Illinois House of
Representatives has taken an important step towards ending the abuses of the
General Assembly scholarship program and preserving resources for higher
education through passage of House Bill 4685. House Bill 4685 ends the General
Assembly scholarship program, effective June 1, 2010. I commend the Illinois
House of Representatives on the passage of that bill and ask for your support
in passing this important initiative.
Therefore, pursuant to Article IV,
Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill
365, entitled “AN ACT concerning State government.”, vetoed in its entirety
with this statement of objections.
Sincerely,
PAT
QUINN
Governor