Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Sunday vetoed legislation to expand benefit rights for paramedics and emergency medical technicians by defining them as firefighters in municipal collective bargaining agreements.
Rauner’s veto of the two measures, which were passed with overwhelming, veto-proof bipartisan majorities, was in line with his previous pronouncements that Springfield shouldn’t dictate “unfunded state mandates on local governments.”
But Rauner went further, castigating the legislation as perpetuating “the decades of political corruption that has plagued the state of Illinois for too long.” While Rauner wrote he had the “utmost respect” for paramedics, he said the legislation granting them firefighter status “widens the already bloated union population in the public sector — increasing the union’s entrenchment and wealth — and puts a significant financial and administrative burden on local governments.”