SQUEEZE PLAY
Emanuel, Claypool blast Rauner for vetoing $ 215 million CPS pension package, but state House could join Senate with override Plus: Massive energy bill that boosts nuclear plants OK’d, goes to gov
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill Thursday that would have given the Chicago Public Schools $ 215 million it’s counting on to help pay for teacher pensions — blaming Illinois Senate President John Cullerton for the deal falling apart.
And in quick fashion, Mayor Rahm Emanuel denounced the veto as “reckless and irresponsible” while the Illinois Senate voted 36- 16 to override it, saying the governor left them no choice.
“It’s a very difficult issue. So therefore, the merits of this bill are not in dispute. The governor chose to use it as leverage for another reform. I agree with him. But since he chose to veto today, we have no choice but to override it today,” Senate President John Cullerton said before the vote.
If the House wants to follow the Senate, it has 15 days to try for an override vote. Members aren’t scheduled to return to Springfield before the new year, so House speaker Michael Madigan would have to call them back sooner.
The bill was contingent on pension reform being passed by the end of the year — and Rauner pointed the finger at Cullerton in his original veto.
“The election is over. Despite my repeated request for daily negotiations and hope to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of next week, we are no closer to ending the impasse or enacting pension reform,” Rauner wrote in his veto message. “Still, President Cullerton withdrew his motion to reconsider the bill, ruled that Leader Radogno’s motion was inapplicable and presented the bill to me for approval or veto — forcing me to take action.”
“Then, today, President Cullerton suddenly denied that the leaders had agreed that this bill would depend upon first enact- ing comprehensive pension reform,” Rauner wrote. “Breaking our agreement undermines our effort to end the budget impasse and enact reforms with bipartisan support.”
An angry Emanuel lashed out at the governor, declaring in a statement from a climate change summit in Mexico City, “this is no way to run a state.”
“This action is both reckless and irresponsible, and make no mistake, it’s our children who will pay the price,” the mayor said. “The governor is lashing out, imperiling the system- wide gains earned by Chicago students and teach- ers, and proving just the latest example of his willingness to put the burden of his failures on the backs of the state’s most vulnerable citizens, whether it’s schoolchildren, college students, seniors, or those living with disabilities. This is no way to run a state.”
Likewise, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool blasted the governor in an afternoon news conference, saying Rauner reneged on a promise he made during the summer to pay CPS’ normal pension costs.
“After agreeing to be part of the solution, he’s now back to being the problem,” Claypool said.
CPS will wait to see how the legislative process plays out first, since there’s still time before the veto stands, but Claypool did not rule out a fight in the courts if necessary.
“There’s ongoing meetings and discussions about pension reform, so that’s why it’s so strange that the governor acted so impulsively and recklessly when that process continues,” he said.
After a brief leaders meeting on Thursday morning, Cullerton denied that the CPS bill was tied to pension reform. He called it “just semantics.”
Later, on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, Cullerton said it is “not true” he is “suddenly not interested in negotiating comprehensive pension reform.”
Cullerton said he had no choice but to call for an override — noting senators would have had to return for an override before Dec. 16. He noted Rauner had until Jan. 6 to act on the bill.
Cullerton said he has “100 percent agreed” to talk about pension reform with Rauner and the leaders and said the bill is “virtually drafted.”
The Senate President said the veto sets back pension reform negotiations he said he believed were advancing.
The Chicago Teachers Union also lashed out, saying “Today’s veto should be a wake- up call to Mayor Rahm Emanuel to denounce the governor and use his influence with the financial sector to make good on promises to fund our schools.’’
On Nov. 7, the teacher pension bill was quietly moved to the governor’s desk, giving Rauner 60 days to make a decision.
CPS’s budget isn’t balanced without that money, though city school leaders have declined to discuss alternatives in case the deal falls through.
When the governor signed off on the deal giving Chicago $ 215 million for teacher pensions, it was with the unwritten understanding that CPS would get the money — but only if there was an elusive deal to save state pensions. And that’s unlikely to happen until Illinois has a permanent budget.