Farnham to keep circulating school funding legislation petition

A suburban state representative says he's getting pressure from Gov. Pat Quinn's office to stop making noise over vetoed school funding legislation that would have brought millions to his district.

But Rep. Keith Farnham, despite being a fellow Democrat to Quinn, says he'll continue to pass a petition around to garner community support as he tries to have the governor's veto overridden when the legislature returns to Springfield later this fall.

Stoking the fire in the clash between the Democratic lawmakers is the pressure of the upcoming election.

Farnham, locked in a tight race against former two-term state Rep. Ruth Munson, who he narrowly defeated in 2008, wants to prove he's working hard for people in his district.

But Quinn, also running a close race against state Sen. Bill Brady, seemingly doesn't want to get hurt by reminding thousands of independent suburban voters - many also parents of Elgin Area School District U-46 students - of the veto, Farnham says.

Farnham said he received a call from the governor's office on Tuesday, asking that he stop passing around the petition, which expresses disappointment over the veto.

Farnham says he plans to bring the petition, which now has more than 1,700 signatures, to the House floor if the legislation ever comes up for debate again.

"Their feeling is that I'm just stirring that issue up. That people might forget about it. That by passing a referendum around I'm just reminding people of it," Farnham said. "But I didn't veto that bill. I distinctly said I'm doing the right thing here."

The vetoed legislation would have restored an estimated $22 million in state aid to U-46 this year, according to Farnham's estimates.

Officials in U-46, the state's second largest district next to Chicago Public Schools, believe it is being shortchanged each year because of its location in three different counties - Cook, Kane and DuPage.

This year alone, district spokesman Tony Sanders said, the cash-strapped district saw a $15 million general state aid drop.

When applying for state aid through the Illinois State Board of Education, Kane County, as the district's so-called "home county," has been estimating Cook and DuPage counties' property value assessments. But with a majority of the district's taxable property located in Cook, the estimates have been resulting in a funding drop over the past several years.

District officials, cognizant of the problem, worked with lawmakers on legislation that would have forced the state board of education to stop using tax rate estimates. Proponents say it would simply cause the state to slice the educational funding pie differently and would make U-46 "whole" again, by taking money from other districts that had been "unfairly" claiming it for years.

It passed the Senate in March, and the House in May.

Upon vetoing the legislation two months later, Quinn said he "could not approve a measure that would boost state aid to one district at the expense of others."

Farnham said he'd been pushing for a funding fix since he began his freshman term in 2009. He said running the legislation through the Senate first was a strategic move, since he'd initially gotten some flak over his efforts from House leadership.

"Once it passed in the Senate, then we could build good support in the House," he said.

And it did, he pointed out, passing on a 113-0-1 vote.

Farnham says he believes Quinn ultimately caved to pressure from Chicago Public Schools lobbyists.

"The CPS lobbyists had come to me and initially said they wouldn't oppose the bill," he said. "But I see how things work. They let the legislation get through, and then there's tremendous pressure to veto. They smile at you and shake your hand and say they're going to do this, and then they're opposing it."

While Farnham says he believes the veto has a good chance of being overridden this fall, he's also aware that political deal making could get in the way again.

"When you get into Springfield, you never know what to expect. What's going to come out of the cracks and crevices."

House Speaker Michael Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said he was aware of Farnham's concerns. "I have no reason to doubt whatever Rep. Farnham would say in terms of his reaction to the governor's office. He's going to be an advocate for the constituents in his district ... The governor ought to understand there's got to be an honest disagreement between his office and the representative."

A governor's office statement Wednesday noted that Quinn "appreciates the work" of the school funding legislation sponsors, but was "hopeful that lawmakers will uphold the Governor's veto when they take it up this fall."

Munson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.