Governor Bruce Rauner proposed a large budget cut for higher education including the University of Illinois. Senator Scott Bennett is trying to stop the governor from slashing the U of I's budget, and he's beginning to fight that battle with a stack of paper and a list of names.
Bennett, who is from Champaign, where U of I's main campus is located, has started a petition in opposition to Rauner's plan. Bennet says the names he collects signify more than a line on a budget.
"You hear their stories already about having to move back in after graduation with their parents, having to, you know, take time off from school because they simply aren't able to afford the tuition and fees that we're asking them to pay."
Rauner proposed across the board cuts to Illinois universities, including a cut to U of I of two hundred and nine million dollars. The governor's plan gives community colleges flat funding.