Metro East Sun

The day after attempting to get a stopgap budget passed in the Illinois General Assembly last week, Gov. Bruce Rauner went on a two-day tour of the state to garner support for the budget and a “clean” education bill.

Before the spring legislative session came to an end on May 31, Rauner made one last attempt to encourage legislators to pass a stopgap budget to fund the state through the end of the year.

Included in the bill was six months' worth of funding for schools (K-12) and some state universities, but the bill didn’t make it to the House floor for a vote.

| Contributed photo

To say that this past school year has been financially challenging for public school administrators in Illinois would be a gross understatement. Caught in the middle of an unprecedented standoff between the governor and Democrats in Springfield over a state budget, state schools have had to operate on a fraction of the funding they receive each year.

Republican candidate Mike Babcock, who is running for the District 111 state House seat, has thrown his full support behind Rauner’s effort to increase spending on education.

“I am a supporter of education, and I believe the schools right now are hurting for money, and under the (House Speaker) Michael Madigan plan, for the last year, he has been underfunding the schools,” Babcock told the Metro East Sun. “In the time frame, he didn’t even have a budget, he has been cutting the schools. I am supporting Gov. Rauner’s plan of increasing school finding and the institutions that need the money the most, for the poor and those that are handicapped.”

Instead of voting to pass Rauner’s stopgap budget, Democratic leadership in the House opted to vote on another bill, SB 2048, which included an extra $700 million in additional funding for all school districts, but appropriated nearly $300 million of the funds to Chicago Public Schools and an additional $100 million to fund the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, which was largely viewed by Republicans as a bailout for Chicago teachers.

Rauner has made it clear to Democrats that he wants a “clean” education bill, but with Madigan standing in his way, Babcock said those in desperate need of funds will not receive them.

“(The stopgap budget) is a measure that should be passed on its own merits, but Michael Madigan won’t do it because he is holding the state hostage,” Babcock said. “He wants Bruce Rauner to look bad, but Bruce Rauner wants to pass a separate bill for mental institutions, for the handicapped, for Head Start programs and for education. And all of it is an increase in funding, but (House speaker) Michael Madigan and (State Rep.) Dan Beiser won’t let him do it.”

Babcock, a Wood River Township supervisor, is challenging Beiser this fall for his Assembly  seat. Beiser, a Democrat, has served in the House since 2004.

Babcock has been very vocal in his criticism of Beiser, accusing the incumbent of answering to Madigan instead of his constituents, which is why Rauner’s efforts to fund education have been in vain thus far, Babcock said.

 “I would not only support (Rauner’s budget), but vote for it if Michael Madigan brought it up. The reason he is not bringing it up is because he knows it will pass and he wants to hold Rauner hostage, and all of the school districts in my District 111 are being held hostage by Michael Madigan and Dan Beiser,” Babcock said. “They could be fully funded with even more than they had the year before, but Michael Madigan and Dan Beiser won’t bring it up for a vote. It is deplorable, it is frustrating.”

This is Babcock’s second attempt at a General Assembly seat. The conservative candidate unsuccessfully ran for state senator against incumbent Sen. Bill Haine in 2012.