Governor Bruce Rauner says he wants to change the way the state buys goods and services. Illinois Republican lawmakers say making state purchasing more efficient would generate savings that could help fund higher education.
Senator Chapin Rose of Mahomet says he was part of budget hearing on this issue all last year. He says the savings to universities would not be "chump change."
"We talked about what this procurement bill costs. What it costs them on a day-to-day basis, what it costs them on an annualized basis. Former president of the University of Illinois, Bob Easter, said it could be upwards of $70 million bucks."
Republicans say they want to make procurement simpler, and procedures audited every two years. They say changes could save the state around a half a billion dollars a year.
Representative Dan Brady of Bloomington has introduced a proposal that he says would simplify the purchasing process for colleges and universities in the state.
"In our opinion, our state universities are at a crisis point. This type of procurement legislation that will be outlined here today is a type of significant lifeline that could help those universities and community colleges."
Brady's legislation would reduce the state's number of chief procurement officers and create a pool of pre-approved vendors. He says it will save money, and time, by minimizing bureaucracy.