SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) issued the following statement on the Senate’s action to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1, a proposal to improve Illinois’ school funding system:

Senator Murphy on the Senate floor“Today I voted to override the governor’s veto and reform the school funding system so that all schools in the state are fairly and adequately funded and so that homeowners can enjoy meaningful property tax relief in the future. Illinois’ current system relies too heavily on local property taxes, burdening homeowners across the state.

“Gov. Rauner attempted to insert anti-business provisions into a school funding reform bill when he vetoed it. His changes would have shifted even more of the costs of funding schools onto property tax payers and hurt our communities’ economic development efforts.

“I could not support the governor’s efforts to burden the middle class and homeowners. I proudly voted to fix our school funding system so that schools are adequately funded without overly relying on property taxes.”

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Background information:
The governor’s amendatory veto includes the assessed value of Tax Increment Financing districts in the overall assessed value of the district, which is used to calculate how much state funding a school district receives. Most revenue in TIF districts is not available to schools. There are nearly 40 active TIF districts within Senate district 28. For a complete list of TIF districts in the state, click here.