SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Rauner has vetoed legislation that would give local school boards final authority to approve or decline new charter schools.

“This veto allows the State Charter School Commission to undercut decisions made by local school board members who ultimately know what’s best for the students in the communities that elected them,” said State Senator Bill Cunningham, the chief sponsor of the legislation.

The legislation, House Bill 5175, would have eliminated charter schools’ ability to appeal a local school board’s decision to deny or not renew a charter school. Under current law, a charter school applicant may file an appeal with the State Charter School Commission, who can reverse the school board’s decision.

The legislation left in place a provision allowing charters to be approved by referendum if at least 5 percent of the voters in a school district petition the school board.

Cunningham is a Democrat representing parts of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs.

CHICAGO – The City of Chicago would be prohibited from requiring police officers to fulfill ticket quotas and assessing officers based on the number of tickets they issue under a plan signed into law today.

Senate Bill 3509, sponsored by State Senator Bill Cunningham, rescinds Chicago’s exemption from a 2014 law banning counties and municipalities from assigning ticket quotas and using the number of tickets an officer issues as a performance evaluation. The law made exemptions for municipalities with their own independent inspectors general and law enforcement review authorities.

“Policing should not be used as a revenue enhancement strategy by municipalities,” said Cunningham, a Democrat representing Chicago and the southwest suburbs. “Officers will no longer be distracted from their regular law enforcement duties in order to meet ticket quotas.”

The Fraternal Order of Police argued that ticket quotas created unnecessary tension between law enforcement and the communities they serve by interfering with officers’ ability to exercise compassion in certain situations.

The address for Worthwinds School should read 11000 Oketo Avenue.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed legislation Tuesday that would have ended Illinois’ participation in the controversial Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which is used to detect voters who are registered in more than one state. Critics say the system is a cybersecurity liability has been used to suppress minority voters by purging valid voters from voter rolls in other states.

The legislation, Senate Bill 2273, would have required Illinois to use the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) instead of Crosscheck. ERIC uses tougher security protocols and more information to guarantee that personal information is correct and safer from hacking.

Rauner’s veto came days after the U.S. Justice Department announced it had indicted 12 Russian military officers for hacking voter data systems throughout the nation, including systems in Illinois.

State Senator Bill Cunningham, a Democrat representing Chicago and the Southwest suburbs who chairs the Senate’s Telecommunications and Information Technology Committee, issued the following statement in response to the governor’s veto:

“It’s inexcusable that within days of federal prosecutors indicting Russian cyber-spies for hacking the personal data of Illinois voters, Gov. Rauner vetoed a bill designed to secure Illinois election systems. Gov. Rauner chose to leave Illinois vulnerable to data breaches in order to preserve the Crosscheck system, which has been used in blatant voter suppression tactics for partisan advantage. He placed the political benefit of his party over the personal data security of Illinoisans.”