Lawmakers should stand by local governments

The news that the Illinois General Assembly will attempt to override the governor's veto of Senate Bill 2964 is deeply concerning for local governments. We currently operate in an environment where Springfield continuously imposes mandates on counties, townships, and other municipalities forcing local taxpayers to bear the financial burden. If we've learned anything over the past year, it's that taxpayers are fed up with paying more into a system that doesn't work for them. The time has come for our elected officials in Springfield to stand on the side of local government.

SB2964 removes local governments (including counties and municipalities) entirely from the process of setting prevailing wage rates. Moreover, no local unit of government may opt out of any provision found in this bill. Currently, state law authorizes each local unit of government to set prevailing wage rates. Overriding the governor's veto of SB2964 is an unconstitutional delegation of government power.

In fact, the Illinois Supreme Court has already declared this unconstitutional. The Illinois General Assembly has, yet again, attempted to tell local units of government how to manage their local affairs while disregarding the financial impact it will have to our budgets.

The ability of local government to set prevailing wage rates should be retained, particularly because those units of government and their taxpayers, not the state, are paying for these projects and the associated costs. In effect, overriding the governor's veto will drive up costs to local governments that undertake public works projects. In the end, these costs will be absorbed by the taxpayer.

I strongly urge our representatives to vote "no" on the motion to override. This sets a dangerous precedent of state governments control over local issues. If the Illinois General Assembly can dictate how local government operates on this issue, I must ask, what is next?

Timothy O. Schneider

Cook County Commissioner

Bartlett