Bill to separate SIU System held

The Metro-East lawmaker who penned legislation to separate the SIU System has decided to hold the bill until a later date, allowing SIU officials and southern Illinois representatives a window of opportunity to strike down the bill. Today is the deadline for all bills to be moved out of the higher education committee, which is where the bill was assigned.

Glenn Poshard, SIU Board of Trustees chairman, said Rep. Thomas Holbrook, D-Belleville, agreed Tuesday afternoon to hold off on pushing the bill until after spring break. Fellow Metro-East Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, will also attend the meeting. Holbrook's bill, which he filed in January, would separate SIU-Edwardsville from the university system. In the proposed split, SIUE would also take with it the East St. Louis Higher Education campus and the School of Dental Medicine in Alton.

Poshard said Holbrook, an SIUE graduate, wanted to analyze additional research he received late last week before presenting the bill to the higher education committee. Holbrook did not return multiple calls for comment. "It's not Representative Holbrook's mission to hurt anyone," Poshard said. "I've given him assurances that we will sit down with him and listen to his concerns." In January, Holbrook said the Edwardsville campus, which is considerably smaller, has been treated like "the redheaded stepchild" by the board and other SIU system leaders. Poshard said the meeting with Holbrook and Hoffman will allow SIU leaders and the legislators with the time to discuss concerns about SIUE mistreatment. The governor appointed the former SIUC administrator to a six-year term on the board in February. Poshard was also elected chairman of the board for another year last month.

"This board will try to treat the system in an evenhanded fashion," Poshard said. "We need everyone's help. It doesn't need to be split up." This is the second time the bill has come to the Legislature. Hoffman first wrote the bill in 2002, but the proposal was defeated. Since then, Holbrook resurrected the bill in January, but SIU officials and one downstate representative have been publicly denouncing the measure. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, has said he will fight to kill the bill in the committee. Bost is the spokesman for the Higher Education Committee. On Monday, Bost speculated that friction between Holbrook and other committee members has kept the bill from being presented to the committee.

Because the deadline bills to pass out of the higher education committee is today, David Gross, SIU government relations officer, said this leaves Holbrook with a couple of other options. Gross said Holbrook could still present the bill on the House floor if he is still not satisfied that SIUE will get fair treatment. Gross said the legislator can "shell" the bill, which means the content of the measure would be stripped and then presented in the House. Holbrook can also file it as an amendment to another higher education bill. The other option would be to receive a written exception from the House rules committee to be assigned back to committee.