Illinois House overrides 11 Rauner vetoes
The Illinois House of Representatives unanimously overrode Gov. Rauner’s veto of Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s Debt Transparency Act on Oct. 25, along with a stunning rejection of ten other of the governor’s vetoes.
HB 3649, the debt transparency bill, would require state agencies to report on their backlog of bills every month, rather than annually as current law requires. Comptroller Mendoza points out that such reporting is especially needed in order to reliably track the state’s growing liabilities and interest rates as the state’s bill backlog has nearly tripled in the past two years.
The bill had bipartisan support in the house. “This is a good bill," Barrington Hills Republican Rep. David McSweeney said. "Nobody should oppose this bill. Stop the madness. Vote yes."
The veto override passed 112-0.
One of the ten other bills that the governor vetoed and the house overrode was the No Salary History bill, which aims to narrow the pay gap between men and women by prohibiting employers from asking job candidates about their salary history. This legislation, which is law in several other states, would prevent too-low salaries from following women as they change jobs.
While the house’s overrides are indicative of waning support for Gov. Rauner, even from Republican lawmakers, the body failed to override Rauner’s veto of two key pro-worker bills.
One of those bills is SB 1905, which would allow for local “right-to-work” zones, one of Rauner’s favorite anti-worker and anti-union ploys. The house also failed to override the governor’s veto of HB 3416, which would require stricter standards when the state attempts to privatize public services.
