The spokesman for Illinois' longtime House speaker says a bipartisan task force on the state's school funding formula is an extension of work done by Democrats last summer.
Michael J. Madigan's bipartisan panel will meet Wednesday afternoon and include lawmakers from various regions of the state. It followed a series of quiet meetings by top Democrat House lawmakers over a proposed overhaul of Illinois' outdated school funding formula, which would direct more state money to poorer rural districts at the expense of wealthier suburban districts.
That proposal and several others have been introduced this session.
Spokesman Steve Brown says Madigan wanted to broaden the meetings to include both parties. He says the speaker believes any solution ultimately approved by the General Assembly must be bipartisan and bridge regional divides.
