Illinois public universities brace for Rauner's proposed budget cuts, plan to counter them - DAVID MERCER Associated Press

Faced with Gov. Bruce Rauner's surprise plan to cut their state funding by almost a third, Illinois' public universities are preparing to argue such drastic reductions would be a mistake while also mulling what to do if they're enacted. The 31.5 percent cut Rauner proposed as part of his budget address Wednesday is part of the Republican governor's starting point in what will be months-long negotiations with Democrats who control the General Assembly. But university administrators fear big cuts, even if they are successful at pushing back. "It's so Draconian that to walk it back some still leaves you in a bad place," said Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and an expert on public university funding. http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9ecfe60682684c049de615959fd76f26/IL--Illinois-Budget-Higher-Education