State Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Dist. 23) applauded the signing into law this week of House Bill 3593, which limits severance and buyout packages for outgoing community-college personnel.
House Bill 3593 amends the Public Community College Act with several reforms to address the College of DuPage’s severance package given to outgoing President Robert Breuder, which many critics derided as extravagant.
The new law will help reform what has been characterized by critics as the misuse and abuse of taxpayer dollars at public community colleges in Illinois.
"This is a step in the right direction. However, there still needs to be additional protections in place to shed some sunshine on the use of state funds at public higher education institutions,” Cullerton said.
Cullerton expressed outrage last month at the abuse of state dollars through the severance package given to resigning University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise.
Cullerton said the bonus provisions outlined in Wise’s severance packages should never have existed. House Bill 3593 only addresses reforms at the community-college level. The measure's reforms don't apply to public universities.
"We have seen enough already," Cullerton said. "Working families should be able to rely on our state community colleges and universities to use tuition dollars to educate their children, not to dine on the taxpayer’s dime."
Alerts Sign-up