Collins on MAP Grant Override Vote: “Students Cannot Afford to Foot the Bill While the State Fails Them”
SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th) issued the following statement on her vote to override the governor’s veto of legislation funding Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants for low-income college students. The Senate approved the override motion, which now goes to the House for a vote, by a margin of 37-17-2 today.
At the heart of competitiveness is opportunity. When Illinois provides qualified, motivated students with genuine opportunities, our entire state reaps the benefits.
It is infuriatingly unnecessary that in order to improve their prospects and make the most of their talents, many of our state’s young people find they must leave Illinois – if they have the resources to do so. Too many do not. They live with the disappointment of a dream deferred, and meanwhile, our economic vitality, our quest for equality and our struggle for stronger communities wither on the vine.
The House and Senate have repeatedly voted to release funds for MAP grants so that qualified, low-income students can continue to receive a college education. Yet the governor has ignored the pleas of countless students who want nothing more than to better themselves and our state. He has vetoed this legislation, jeopardizing not only the prospects of MAP grant recipients, but the continued survival of one of Illinois’ greatest assets – its public institutions of higher learning. Already, more than a thousand MAP grant recipients have been forced to stop going to class. They simply cannot afford to foot the bill while the state fails them.
I was proud to vote with my colleagues today to override the governor’s irresponsible veto, which has the effect of consigning to poverty and underemployment a generation of young people who hold the future of Illinois in their hands. I urge the House to follow the Senate’s lead as soon as possible.
