Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich) encouraged the state Board of Education to revise its budget request during a Senate Appropriations II committee hearing on Tuesday.
"I just want to ask for clarification, which request are we discussing today?" McConchie asked at the hearing. "The board's official request is for $7.2 billion in additional funding and yet the governor's request is for $375 million. Which one are we here to talk about today?"
Illinois State Board of Education Superintendent Carmen Ayala, who was at the hearing on her third day as superintendent, said she couldn't speak to the previous request since she had just started with the board.
Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Lake Zurich)
McConchie asked if it was the board's intention to revise the request in some capacity in the coming weeks, to which Ayala confirmed it was. McConchie also asked if they had a projected date for the revision, which Ayala said would be sometime after the next board meeting later this month.
"I'll just reiterate here what I said in our meeting, having the . . . $7.2 billion, which is something we are obviously not able to do and afford at this point, I think that it undermines the credibility of the other requests you've put forward," McConchie said. "I think that having in your discussions with the board, having a proposal in line or similar to what the governor's proposal is, helps us to kind of look at that much more seriously. I would encourage that as you go forward."
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