Here's what happens if governor vetoes just part of school funding bill
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner says he plans to strike portions of a controversial school funding bill should it reach his desk. If he does use an amendatory veto to remove provisions he doesn't like, the immediate future of education funding becomes a lot more complicated.
Under Illinois law, a governor can issue an amendatory veto to change components of legislation sent to him by the General Assembly. But both chambers of the legislature must then move to accept his changes or override him within a 30-day timespan.
Here's how legislative staffers familiar with the process explain it:
A bill with an amendatory veto first goes back to the chamber from which it originated. Whatever action taken there must be duplicated in the other chamber.
In the case of the schools bill, known as Senate Bill 1, that means the Senate must act first. The Senate would have 15 calendar days either to accept the amendatory veto or override it by a three-fifths majority vote.
If the Senate fails to act during the designated period, the bill dies and schools will have to wait for another funding bill to be approved before they receive money from the state.
If the Senate acts - either by accepting the governor's changes or successfully overriding them - the bill then goes to the House. The House has another 15 days to approve the Senate's action. Again, if the House fails to act within its own 15-day time span, the bill dies and no money will go to schools.
Thus, in the event of an amendatory veto of the schools bill, funding would become available only if, within the allotted time frames, the Senate and House both agree to accept the changes or both agree to override.