Rod
Blagojevich
Governor
August 18,
2003
To the
Honorable Members of the
Illinois Senate
93rd
General Assembly
I am
firmly committed to funding elementary and secondary education. The fiscal year
2004 budget provides over $381 million new dollars directly to school
districts, including a $250 increase in the per student Foundation Level. SB
1321 targets additional resources to school districts affected by tax caps and
struggling to make up for lost resources through property tax appeals. While we
have provided millions of new dollars to school districts, we must recognize
our budget constraints, and therefore, I am modifying SB 1321 to limit the
allocation for state aid adjustments to $20 million of the General State Aid
appropriation within each fiscal year. This amount is consistent with the
average allocated in the past four years. Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(e)
of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 1321,
entitled “AN ACT regarding schools”, with the following specific
recommendations for change:
on page 2,
line 4, after “claim.”, by inserting “From the total amount of
general State aid to be provided to districts, adjustments as a result of
recomputation under this Section together with adjustments under Section 2-3.84
shall not exceed $20 million, in the aggregate for all districts under both
Sections combined, of the general State aid appropriation in any fiscal year;
if necessary, amounts shall be prorated among districts.”; and
on page 2,
line 16, after “calculation.”, by inserting “From the total amount of
general State aid to be provided to districts, adjustments under this Section
together with adjustments as a result of recomputation under Section 2-3.33
shall not exceed $20 million, in the aggregate for all districts under both
Sections combined, of the general State aid appropriation in any fiscal year;
if necessary, amounts shall be prorated among districts.”.
With these
changes, Senate Bill 1321 will have my approval. I respectfully request your concurrence.
Sincerely,
Rod R.
Blagojevich
Governor
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