SPRINGFIELD - Governor Rauner took action on the following bill today:

Bill No.: SB 1229

An Act Concerning State Government

Action: Vetoed

The governor's veto message is as follows:

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois Senate,

99th General Assembly:

Today I veto Senate Bill 1229 from the 99th General Assembly, which would amend the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to replace collective bargaining with binding interest arbitration.

For many months, I have advocated that local governments should have the right to determine which subjects are collectively bargained with their public employees. The response from some union officials is that my proposal would "gut" the collective bargaining rights of those public employees. Those same union officials proposed Senate Bill 1229, which goes far beyond my simple proposal. It removes every subject of labor negotiations from the bargaining process and allows unelected arbitrators to impose billions of dollars of new costs on our taxpayers without any involvement of the Executive Branch, the General Assembly, or those taxpayers. This legislation is undemocratic, it is bad for our budget, and it is unconstitutional.

Senate Bill 1229 is also based on a false premise that our Administration has been unreasonable in labor negotiations and wants to lock-out employees or prompt an employee strike. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have negotiated in good faith with AFSCME since shortly after I took office. We came with our proposals ready on day 1, and we made significant concessions from our initial proposals, including revising our proposals on management rights, dues collection, holidays, subcontracting, layoffs, and employee pensions. We asked AFSCME to schedule more frequent weekly negotiating sessions (which they declined), and we voluntarily agreed to extend negotiations even after the current collective bargaining agreements expired on June 30, 2015. At my request, those "tolling agreements" contain express provisions that prohibit a strike or lock-out during our negotiations. Today our Administration signed a new tolling agreement that extends negotiations until at least the end of September. We are working diligently to reach an agreement with AFSCME.

Our proposals have also not been unreasonable. In fact, the proposals we offered to AFSCME are similar to those recently adopted by state employees represented by the Teamsters. It took only two weeks from the time our Administration first met with John Coli, the President of the Teamsters Joint Council 25, to reach agreement with the Teamsters. The Teamsters, to their credit, were realistic about the State's dire financial condition. They cleared their calendars to negotiate around the clock. They made no outrageous financial demands for large pay increases or new health benefits. They had no problem agreeing to a 40-hour work week. We similarly sought to build a strong partnership with the Teamsters in exchange for their concessions. We agreed to a large monetary bonus pool to reward employees for their exceptional performance. Rather than have an unlimited subcontracting provision, we agreed to allow the Teamsters to bid on any project offered to a private sector company and share in the savings achieved by the State. We also agreed to fund an educational program for their employees, a top priority for our Administration.

Given time and reasonableness, we can reach a similar agreement with AFSCME. This legislation, however, prevents our Administration from doing so. Many are unfamiliar with the concept of interest arbitration that replaces collective bargaining in this legislation. It is not the same as arbitration in civil law, business, or other contract disputes. Interest arbitrators are not allowed to fashion a compromise that Illinois taxpayers can actually afford. Presented with the State's and the unions' proposals, arbitrators will be picking winners and losers by accepting either side's proposal in its entirety. Because they are unelected and unaccountable, arbitrators can decide to impose on the State the unions' proposals without regard to the dire impact those proposals will have on our fiscal stability. As I write this message, if AFSCME seeks to impose its current proposal, it would cost our taxpayers an additional $1.6 billion in salary and pension costs and would eliminate $500 million per year in healthcare savings that were part of the overall healthcare savings included in both Democrat and Republican budgets. If an unaccountable arbitrator awards AFSCME's contract, the clear losers will be the State's taxpayers. And the already-difficult task of balancing the State's budget in a constitutional manner will become insurmountable, hurting the beneficiaries of State programs and services that would no longer be possible. We cannot afford Senate Bill 1229.

Finally, if enacted into law, Senate Bill 1229 would violate the United States Constitution by retroactively impairing contractual obligations. In the last round of negotiations, the State and unions entered into collective bargaining agreements that spanned the period from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2015. Negotiating those contracts in 2012, both sides knew, and bargained with the understanding, that any contractual obligations the parties undertake would expire on June 30, 2015. Senate Bill 1229 changes that bargain by extending the terms of expired agreements beyond June 30, 2015. The United States Constitution forbids the State from enacting a law that changes contracts retroactively. Senate Bill 1229 is therefore unconstitutional.

Senate Bill 1229 would cede major financial decisions to unelected, unaccountable arbitrators. This legislation is bad policy and would derail our efforts to honestly balance the State's budget and enact meaningful government reforms.

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 1229 entitled "AN ACT concerning State government", with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

SPRINGFIELD - Governor Bruce Rauner took action today on the following bills:

Bill No.: HB 182

An Act Concerning Transportation

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2016

Bill No.: HB 198

An Act Concerning Transportation

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2016

Bill No.: HB 421

An Act Concerning Regulation

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 1422

An Act Concerning Regulation

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 1744

An Act Concerning State Government

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 2502

An Act Concerning Public Employee Benefits

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 2557

An Act Concerning Gaming

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 2635

An Act Concerning Civil Law

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2016

Bill No.: HB 2673

An Act Concerning Health

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 2755

An Act Concerning Regulation

Action: Signed

Effective: July 1, 2015

Bill No.: HB 2812

An Act Concerning Public Aid

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 3429

An Act Concerning Business

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2016

Bill No.: HB 3747

An Act Concerning Local Government

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: HB 3753

An Act Concerning State Government

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2016

Bill No.: SB 1445

An Act Concerning Utilities

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1523

An Act Concerning Transportation

Action: Signed

Effective: July 1, 2015

Bill No.: SB 1707

An Act Concerning Safety

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediate

Bill No.: SB 1820

An Act Concerning Regulation

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2016

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack announced today that he will continue his Coffee with Your Congressman tour this Friday, July 31st, with stops in Davenport and Clinton. At each stop, Loebsack will mingle with local patrons at diners and coffee shops to chat one-on-one and hear directly from Iowans. The Coffee with Your Congressman tour will make periodic stops throughout Iowa's Second District. The event is open to the public and media.

Davenport Coffee with Your Congressman Stop

Fresh Deli by Nostalgia Farms

421 W. River Dr., Davenport

11:30am

Clinton Coffee with Your Congressman Stop

Jenny's Diner

517 N 2nd St., Clinton

3:15pm

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack today called on House Republican leaders to bring a long-term highway bill up for a vote before adjourning for the August recess. Currently, the House has only passed a short-term extension of the bill and, according to recent news reports, Republican leaders have said the House will not consider long-term legislation before leaving for its annual August recess. The Senate is debating its own long-term extension this week. On Friday, funding for highway projects nationwide will run out if an extension is not agreed to.

"It is beyond irresponsible for Republican leaders in the House to go on recess without passing a long-term bill that invests in our nation's infrastructure. A long-term transportation bill is necessary to address urgent transportation and infrastructure needs, create jobs for Iowans and is central to economic development across the country. It will also ensure businesses and farmers can transport their goods more efficiently to compete in the 21st Century economy. Another short-term, shortsighted extension will only cause more uncertainty, keeping state and local governments from being able to effectively plan for future projects. Congress should remain in session until a long-term plan is agreed to."