Rauner Administration Unable to Back Up Governor’s Claims with Concrete Plan for Funding Higher Education

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Members of the House Appropriations-Higher Education Committee questioned Gov. Bruce Rauner’s education secretary Thursday about comments made by the governor contradicting his record of slashing funding for colleges and universities. Education Secretary Elizabeth Purvis was unable to outline a concrete strategy for funding higher education, despite the governor’s claims.   

“For the past two years, Governor Rauner has slashed funding for our universities at unimaginable levels, only to follow up by saying he wants to expand higher education. Today we gave his administration a chance to prove that these promises weren’t all talk, but were met with nothing but excuses and obfuscation,” said state Rep. Kelly Burke, chairwoman of the committee. “We don’t need more off-the-cuff comments and unrealistic political promises. We need a real plan to invest in education and stem the outmigration of young people who leave Illinois for colleges in other states and never return. Unfortunately, the Rauner administration showed that it has no plan.”

Earlier this month, Rauner stated he planned to “put more resources into our state university system” and help “expand their footprint” around the state. Despite these claims, Rauner has slashed funding for colleges and universities by $2.3 billion throughout his time in office, nearly a 60 percent reduction in funding. Purvis offered committee members no new solutions to back up the governor’s promises.

“The Governor’s office has no plan for the future higher education in Illinois,” said state Rep. Christian Mitchell, a member of the Appropriations – Higher Education Committee. “The Governor’s office likes to give lip service to caring about college affordability, but the savage cuts that Mr. Rauner has made show his true colors: college is good enough for his kids, but not for yours.”