When Illinois lawmakers finally passed a budget earlier this month, the state’s public universities learned they will get $1.1 billion for the upcoming school year. It was welcome news after two years of operating on shoestring budgets funded by stopgap measures, but it still represents a 10 percent cut over the funding for 2015.
During the two-year budget impasse, schools like Western Illinois University and Chicago State University were forced to cut staff and programs, and some worry that the state university system has taken a permanent hit as a result.
Morning Shift talks with John Miller, president of University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, the union that represents faculty and staff at seven four-year public colleges and universities in Illinois about what the budget deal means for the state.