34 Comments - burbanite - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:13 pm: Wow, if U of I is already there, what are NIU and ISU gonna do? Next week maybe? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:15 pm: @RonSandack: I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate. - Ron Sandack, 9/28/15 Check out Ron Sandack’s tweets on Illinois Athletics, they’re a hoot, but… The Owl is frustrated so layoffs need to happen. Thank you, Rep. Sandack! I’ll wait for your next U of I baseball tweet or… - Captain Illini - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:15 pm: Even my alma mater and its incredible wad of cash can’t sustain this much longer. Soon they’ll have to change the saying to: “To thy sad and turned away children of the future, those of the past send our prayers.” - Jeff Trigg - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:22 pm: Just something to think about. Illinois Schools and how much sports are subsidized beyond their revenue and student fees(tuition) in 2014-2015. U of Illinois - $3.7 million Northern Illinois - $17.7 million Illinois State - $19.1 million SIU - $14.4 million U of I-Chicago - $12.4 million EIU - $9.6 million WIU - $9.3 million SIU-E - $6.7 million Chicago State - $5.8 million Total - $98.7 million Source link: http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/ - Annonin' - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:24 pm: And the beat goes on. Perhaps all the anguish of recent months could have been avoided had Illini been honest. Hmmmmm - How Ironic - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:35 pm: @- Annonin’ - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:24 pm: “And the beat goes on. Perhaps all the anguish of recent months could have been avoided had Bruce Rauner been honest (during his campaign and told voters that he intended to drive the state off a fiscal cliff in an attempt to destroy unions and social services in Illinois).” There, I fixed your post. Now it reflects reality. - Fed Up - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:43 pm: In all the talk about the pending higher ed. bills, there is no mention that neither the Fortner bill or the Mayfield bill include any money for community colleges and in the Fortner bill, virtually all the money from the Education Assistance Fund will be used. Illinois community colleges are not thinking of laying people off, they already have laid off hundreds of employees. Community colleges serve the majority of the students in Illinois and should not be left out of these funding bills. - Honeybear - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:50 pm: All to destroy labor, such destruction, all to destroy labor. Do Raunerites not realize it destroys lives when people get laid off? Jobs are such a precious thing. It’s so hard to find work right now. - SAP - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:54 pm: Is this U of I’s way of saying it supports Fortner’s bill over Mayfield’s? - James Knell - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 4:57 pm: Thanks How Ironic. You did a good job. - AnonymousOne - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:07 pm: It’s just so worth it though, isn’t it? s n a r k - Union Leader - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:11 pm: @ OW Hope ISU is not affected too much, maybe then Sandack will care. - Union Leader - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:12 pm: @ How Ironic +10 - Zonker - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:30 pm: According to the link you posted, that $3.7 million is actually from student fees from U of I, NOT university general funds. I don’t believe that U of I subsidizing anything in athletics, other than perhaps user fees for using Athletic Department facilities. - illini - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:41 pm: My Alma Mater has already been impacted, maybe not to the extent that some other state institutions have been, but now we are talking about eliminating the working individuals who keep the campus clean and running in top condition. We are talking about real people with families who are invested in their community. === “To thy sad and turned away children of the future, those of the past send our prayers.” === Thank you, Captain - very sad indeed. - illini - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:56 pm: === “To thy sad and turned away children of the future, those of the past send our prayers.” Thank you Captain. How Ironic - could not have done better - great post. - Annonoin' - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:58 pm: Dear Mr/Ms How Ironic: Actually the BigBrain was honest at various times in the campaign, but no one kept a log and other were busy trying to learn how he wrecked various companies before bailin’ out. For instance he said he would use his own cash to repair the mansion and then started fundraisin’ We mention cause we just got a fresh ask for repair job. - AC - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 6:04 pm: How does destorying our public universities “grow our economy”? The short term pain is no longer short term - RNUG - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 6:10 pm: == For instance he said he would use his own cash to repair the mansion and then started fundraisin’ == Rich people always do things with Other People’s Money. - kitty - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 6:10 pm: How Ironic +1. A sad day for my Alma Mater and its alums, students and those to be impacted by Mr. Rauner’s pursuit of an agenda for which he has zero mandate. Contact IL GOP House “enablers” and ask them to make a choice between their constituency or the Rauner agenda. Vote accordingly in November. - Ducky LaMoore - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 6:20 pm: House GOP… we’re waiting…. - Mr How Ironic - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 6:41 pm: @- Annonoin’ - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 5:58 pm: “Dear Mr/Ms How Ironic: Actually the BigBrain was honest at various times in the campaign.” I’ll just stop you there. Let’s refresh your memory a bit. Right after the election this ran “…Rauner spent more than a year on the campaign trail specifically avoiding key questions about his platform and stance on a wide range of issues. From abortion, gay marriage and marijuana legalization to issues surrounding pension reform, job growth and the state’s income tax level, Rauner often presented little more than a blank state for voters to fill in as they wished.” http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/What-Does-Governor-Rauner-Promise-for-Illinois-281630641.html Furthermore, he actively lied about his position on RTW and implementation of other initiatives designed to destroy, or destabilize unions in Illinois. Consider this from Oct 2014 “…He told AP he won’t push statewide right to work legislation or try to curb collective bargaining rights” http://www.nwherald.com/2014/10/13/illinois-governor-race-bruce-rauner-explains-right-to-work-zones/am57hnj/?page=2 And the list goes on. He lied, many times. And he hid, or otherwise shaded the truth about his intentions until AFTER he was elected. - foster brooks - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 7:12 pm: plenty of hiring and promotions at IDOT - Blue dog dem - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 7:24 pm: Is Jim edgar’s position on the chopping blocks? - Future Illini - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 7:30 pm: I will be attending U of I in the fall, and honestly, I would highly consider going out of state if I had known this sooner. The instability of this state is abysmal. Pass a budget, any budget, I don’t even care at this point. Enough is enough! - Skeptical - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 7:43 pm: It may be too late for the regionals that are already struggling. The fall enrollment projections are absymal and likely to get worse because high school seniors had to make their choices without any assurance that MAP would be available. The “shakeout” is occuring. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 8:21 pm: Two questions of timing. The aforementioned bills that only funded certain schools vs. others was bound to make the left-outs cry wolf. But secondly, seeing as how the UI had to endure a work stoppage the past few days, it seems like a threat to non-tenure faculty as well. - GlimmerGirl - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 8:22 pm: Exciting initiatives and plenty of new construction going on across the border at Purdue and other state schools in the Hoosier state… - HistoryProf - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 10:16 pm: -Jeff Trigg @ 4:22 pm, If I am not mistaken and as Zonker at 5:30 pointed out, your interpretation of the data there is mostly wrong. Student fees and tuition are two different things, and it is likely true most or all of these schools that student fees do find their way into competitive athletics. This can take a number of forms, such as part of a fee being dedicated to the stadium or to tutoring programs that only athletes get. But Zonker is right, General Revenue funds are for the most part carefully screened out, in part out of deference to state mandate. There is one sneaky way GR funds do leak into Athletics and that is in “scholarships.” Just like “scholarships” for our National Guard veterans, Athletes do not in fact get “scholarships.” In fact that academic side of the house has to educate them for free, which indirectly comes out of GR funds. - Mhsheikh - Wednesday, Apr 20, 16 @ 10:32 pm: NIU has yet to see a reduction in state money and $140,000,000 in reserves. UIUC is more dependant on the state budget. - Chucktownian - Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 7:15 am: Just a question: Can anyone explain why U of I still usually has most of the job listings in the Midwest on higher ed job websites? - Jack Stephens - Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 9:10 am: Dont forget that the Franchise Pizza Parlors will start closing as the city shuts down. Great Job Creatin’ Bruce! - Josh - Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 9:51 am: Can someone give me the rundown of why the GA is unable to override? What’s the count? Whose loyalty to whom for what reason? Btw the “Turnaround Plan” is a sham, has nothing to do with the budget and everything to do with big business and unions. - Josh at U of I - Thursday, Apr 21, 16 @ 9:59 am: Chucktownian - The people who put out the hiring requests and the people who say we don’t have money to hire are two different sets of people. Departments want to fill vacancies, the bean counters say “we’re being crunched”. But there has to be a decision made officially to stop hiring. Just today the Civil Service openings page went blank and you’ll soon see those ads disappear because the mandate has been made to freeze hiring. Some hires may still be made for absolutely vital positions. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.