Lame-duck Illinois Governor Jim Edgar started the first day of his last full year in public office by wielding his veto pen to quash almost a year of effort by Illinois lawmakers to build bipartisan support for a $500 tuition tax credit bill.
“This was an opportunity to do something bold,” a disappointed GOP sponsor of the bill, Senator Dan Cronin, told the Chicago Tribune after the Republican governor issued his veto, citing concerns about the proposal’s cost.
Chicago’s cardinal-designate Francis George labeled the veto “outrageous,” pointing out to the Chicago Sun-Times that “Big companies can make all kinds of money and we see breaks from the state, but parents who are struggling . . . can’t find the kind of help they need.”
With a veto override unlikely in an election year, supporters’ hopes are now turning to Republican gubernatorial candidate, Secretary of State George Ryan, who has said he would support such a measure.
