August 24, 2018

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois Senate,

100th General Assembly:

Today I veto Senate Bill 2376 from the 100th General Assembly, which creates a new Cook County Water Infrastructure Grant Program to be administered by Illinois EPA to assist municipalities with accessing Lake Michigan water. While this grant program is currently unfunded, it is created with the expectation that in future years it will be.

The Illinois EPA already provides low-interest loans for Wastewater/Stormwater and Drinking Water infrastructure, for which communities from any part of the state can apply.

Local water infrastructure should be primarily paid by user fees from the customers who benefit from a specific project. It is inappropriate for the state of Illinois to take taxpayer dollars from the entire state for the explicit purpose of only funding water infrastructure for one county in the state.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 2376, entitled “AN ACT concerning local government,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR