June 3, 2015
Dear
Colleagues,
As
you may have seen in the media, the legislative session in Springfield reached
its deadline Sunday without an agreement on a state budget for fiscal 2016,
which begins July 1. The expectation is that lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner
will return to the Capitol as soon as this week to resume negotiations on the
budget and other unresolved issues.
This
development was not unexpected, and it’s not the first time a spring
legislative session has gone into summer “overtime.”
I
will be working with our governmental relations and budgeting staff in the
coming weeks to continue to make the case for adequate, responsible state
support of the University of Illinois, and for all of public higher education
in Illinois. As recently as last week I convened a group of leaders from the
state’s public universities to meet with legislative leaders and Gov. Rauner’s
chief of staff to reiterate our collective value to the state as well as our
nation. I am confident our message was heard, and we will continue the work to
advance higher education as among the state’s priorities.
Sincerely,
Timothy
Killeen
President