Even beyond unfunded mandates – when the state tells some smaller government or private entity how to act without providing the money to do so – the General Assembly has earned a reputation for making promises without cutting checks.
One particularly frustrating example is the School Construction Grant Program. Lawmakers enacted the plan in December 1997, “largely to address the shortage of classroom space due to population growth or aging buildings,” according to the State Board of Education, which administers SGCP with the Capital Development Board.
A 2019 task force report (tinyurl.com/2019taskforce) said 2003 applications were the last prioritized. Although the program provided more than $3.1 billion to 497 districts, many dozens have been waiting since fiscal 2004 to get money for projects meeting eligibility criteria, which included verifying local matching funds.
Every fiscal year, new projects check the right boxes, and for two decades now lawmakers haven’t paid. In some cases, districts found money and did work without state help. In far too many others, projects just don’t happen. These aren’t wish lists like new pools or football fields. This is about classroom space and critical situations.
It’d take the rest of the month to tell superintendents’ stories: falling ceilings, boilers repurposed from World War II ships, infested walls from schools built when Al Capone was still an elementary student in Brooklyn. Instead, here are quotes from two Senators who responded to email queries, while others I asked remained silent.
“As a former educator, I know firsthand what these funds mean for schools and hope to see them included in the final budget,” said state Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel, D-Joliet.
“For years, our communities have waited while critical school construction needs went unmet due to the lack of funding in the Illinois School Construction Grant Program,” said state Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea. “I’ve been fighting to get this program back on track because every child deserves a safe, modern learning environment. This year’s budget is our chance to finally invest in our schools and deliver on that promise.”
The last word goes to state Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, an expedient and thorough respondent:
“Last year, the General Assembly passed legislation to allow the schools in the 2004, 2005, 2006 cohort of schools who had applied and fulfilled all the requirements for grants, to reapply and be fully considered prior to starting a new process for grants. Unfortunately, that process has not been funded either last year or this year. One of my schools in Opdyke even passed their referendum; it was fully executed and fulfilled, then expired, and then they passed their referendum again.
“I do not believe the majority party nor Gov. Pritzker intends to fund the school construction grants now or anytime in the future.”
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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