Lake County Gazette

There’s a hole in the budget, Illinois Republicans recently said after the Chicago Board of Education approved an amended $5.5 billion operating budget on the chance that the state House overrides Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto, which didn't happen.

“Yesterday, Chicago Public Schools passed a budget with a $215 million hole, signaling that they are still counting on the House to override Gov. Rauner’s veto of the Chicago bailout,” stated Illinois Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe.

Moreover, leaders suggest, state Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Grayslake) ought to be the one to correct it.

“Sam Yingling has refused to rule out voting for the bailout,” Yaffe said. “Yingling owes it to the families in his district to guarantee that if an override is called, he will stand with them and vote no.”

Democratic leaders earlier went back on their word regarding their intended passage of pension reform. Such an arrangement could have freed up resources for Chicago schools, said party officials, and now House Democrats will face their first big challenge as the legislature convenes to vote on the matter.

“They can either stand for taxpayers who are demanding fiscal sanity from Springfield, or vote to recklessly bail out Chicago Public Schools,” Yaffe said.

Chicago school officials approved the pending contract by a 6-1 vote of board members, despite the fact that Rauner vetoed the funding legislation only days earlier.

“I expect the state will … provide the necessary funding for Chicago children,” School Board President Frank Clark said. “If for whatever reason the unthinkable occurs, we are prepared to deal with another amended budget at our next regular board meeting in late January.”

In the end, there were not enough votes in the state House to accomplish an override of the veto.