August 19, 2018

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois House of Representatives,

100th General Assembly:

Today I veto House Bill 127 from the 100th General Assembly, which amends the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act to mandate that local units of government provide expanded benefits to injured or deceased paramedics, emergency medical technicians and their families. Specifically, the Bill includes "a paramedic employed by a unit of local government" and "an emergency medical technician employed by a unit of local government" in the definition of "firefighter."

This Bill would operate as an unfunded state mandate on local governments. Local governments should have flexibility to determine benefit and employment conditions for their own employees based on local resources, needs and labor availability. By forcing all local governments to provide expansive health and education benefit to an additional group of employees, the Bill limits locals’ ability to control and curb their operations and spending.

I have the utmost respect for paramedics and emergency medical technicians in Illinois. Their work is extremely taxing and critical to the health and survival of many Illinois citizens and visitors. This Bill, however, puts a significant financial and administrative burden on local governments at a time when most local governments’ resources are extremely constrained.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return House Bill 127, entitled “AN ACT concerning government,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR