Daily Egyptian THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016
Effort to override MAP grant veto fails
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
SINCE 1916
VOL. 100 ISSUE 58
Sanders supporters bring campaign to Carbondale, plan rally for Sunday
BILL LUKITSCH @Bill_Lukitsch_DE
An effort to override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of an appropriation bill that could fund higher education failed Wednesday in Springfield. The legislation would have given Rauner authority to spend $721.5 million on Monetary Award Program grants and operational costs for community colleges. The Illinois Senate passed the motion 37-17 but it fell two votes shy of three-fifths majority in the Illinois House of Representatives. All representatives and senators from districts that encompass SIUC voted with their respective political parties. “We applaud House Republicans and [Rep. Scott] Drury for standing up for taxpayers today,” Rauner press secretary Catherine Kelly said. “We continue to urge Democratic leaders not to recess until the General Assembly passes a bipartisan proposal to fund MAP and higher education.” Public universities and community colleges have received no state money in fiscal year 2016, as Illinois lags into nine months without a budget. Chicago State University sent layoff notices to 900 of its employees last month. Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois University are putting administrative staffers on furlough and conducting layoffs. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, who initially voted against the bill and was expected to do so again by the Rauner administration, said legislators “have to stop the bleeding” as Illinois universities undergo severe financial hardships. He also pointed out that the bill is not legally binding. “All we’re doing when we pass this bill is giving the governor the option to spend this money,” Franks said. Please see VETO | 3
Morgan Timms | @Morgan_Timms Jessica Feller and Tony Farace, graduate students in anthropology from Brooklyn, Mich., and St. Louis, respectively, complete the sentence “I support Bernie because…” on pledge cards. The cards were distributed at a meeting of about 30 volunteers Wednesday at the new Bernie Sanders campaign office in Carbondale. Farace said the main reason he supports the Democratic presidential candidate is for his attacks on Wall Street. “Bernie’s bringing together people who are young, people who are from different races, people of different sexual orientations, people that are from different parts of the country and bringing them together to take on what’s ruining our country right now — the establishment,” Farace said.
ANNA SPOERRE | @AnnaSpoerre
Carbondale may soon feel the Bern. An official Bernie Sanders campaign office opened Sunday in Carbondale. The one-room office, located at 715 S. University Ave. next to Blend Tea and Crepe, is mostly empty aside from a couple of tables and dozens of posters covering the windows. Walls sporting blue signs for the Democratic presidential candidate say, “A future to believe in.” Volunteer Kimia Memar said despite
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being a small city, Carbondale’s liberal student presence made it an opportune destination for Sanders. Supporters have planned a Sanders rally at the office on Sunday, where attendees will have the opportunity to sign up to volunteer, make phone calls to potential voters and get fired up about the election, Memar said. Even though the office has been open for less than a week, Memar, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering from Missouri, said more volunteers
are coming in each day. She said volunteers come in at all hours to make phone calls and organize additional volunteers in preparation for the March 15 Illinois primary. Memar said the goal is to collectively make 200 calls a day through their volunteer phone bank. Beginning Thursday they will start going door to door talking to people in the community about the election. Ben Woolard, who organized the rally, said he wanted to get
the word about Sanders out in a predominantly conservative region. Woolard, who graduated from SIU in May 2012 with a degree in radio television, said more than 150 have RSVP’d for the event on Facebook. “When you don’t get involved, you pay a cost,” Memar said. He said the state’s budget impasse and exponential cuts to higher education-funding make this election all the more important to students. Please see SANDERS | 3