Western Illinois University had some wins and some losses during this spring’s legislative session in Springfield.
“With any legislative session, there are things that go the way we want them to go and things that don’t always work out that way. This year was no different,” Zach Messersmith, WIU’s Director of Government and Public Relations, told the Board of Trustees during their June 17 meeting.
He said one of WIU’s wins is Senate Bill 1310. It would allow the university to borrow up to $2 million from its foundation.
Lawmakers approved the measure, and it could soon be sent to Governor JB Pritzker for his signature.
“Everything that I’ve heard looks good for that, the governor signing that into law later this year and giving us that ability and that flexibility to borrow from the foundation,” Messersmith said.
He said WIU ended up taking no position on a bill that would have allowed community colleges to award baccalaureate degrees. That bill did not pass, but the idea had been proposed in the past and Messersmith expects it to come up again.
“The new thing with community college baccalaureates is the governor giving voice and support to it,” Messersmith said. “We’ll continue to monitor.”
Messersmith said WIU is disappointed lawmakers did not take up a proposed new funding formula for higher education. It would benefit WIU, and he said the university will continue pushing for that.
In addition, the new state budget provides little additional funding support for public universities. They will receive a funding increase of just one-percent for the new fiscal year that begins on July 1, which surprised BoT Chairperson Carin Stutz.
“It doesn’t even cover our raises for next year. It’s quite a surprise,” she said.
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