July 3, 2003

To the Honorable Members of the

Illinois House of Representatives

93^rd General Assembly

Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(d) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby veto and return several appropriation items included in House Bill 2671, entitled “AN ACT making appropriations,” having taken the actions set forth below.

This veto message reduces the total appropriation in HB 2671 by $54,012,809, including reduction and item vetoes for substantive programs of $11,308,100 and a reduction of $42,704,719 in technical changes for reappropriations based upon the items’ June 30, 2003 unspent balances (reducing the reappropriations for actual spending through June 30, 2003).  Included in this veto message is a partial reduction in funds added by the General Assembly to the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.  Despite these reductions, the MAP program will increase $6,000,000 over the FY03 appropriation and the Community College Base Operating grants will increase by $3,708,100.

Item Vetoes

            I hereby veto the following appropriations items:

Reduction Vetoes

            I hereby reduce the following appropriation items and approve each item in the amount set forth in the “Reduced Amount” column below:

            In addition to these specific item and reduction vetoes, I hereby approve all other appropriation items in House Bill 2671.

Sincerely,

ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH

Governor