Democrats in the Illinois Senate are trying to secure funding for a program that helps low-income students pay for college.
The budget impasse between Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic legislative leaders has meant the state has not approved the 372 million dollars needed for so-called MAP grants. Randy Dunn, the president of Southern Illinois University, says two-thirds of students at the Carbondale campus get help from the program.
"The average award for our students is significant. This is not something that's chicken feed, if you will."
Dunn says SIU and other state schools will let students attend for the fall semester as though the MAP program had full funding. But he says if the state doesn't come through, the students will have to make up the missing tuition before they can register for the spring semester.
The MAP funding measure passed out of a Senate committee with only Democrats voting to support it. Governor Rauner says he's opposed to more state spending without a full budget deal.
