State budget plan crashes and burns
SPRINGFIELD – The sputtering drive to come up with a state budget broke down completely Tuesday, leaving Illinois to begin a new fiscal year without any plan for paying its employees or delivering government services.
Government will not shut down without a budget in place, but the situation creates uncertainty for anyone who depends on state money, such as community agencies caring for the sick, elderly and disabled, government workers and road crews.
With a 50 percent funding cut in the Department of Human Services, domestic violence agencies such as Mutual Ground Inc., in Aurora, have said they will shut their doors today. Association for Individual Development, which provides services to the developmentally disabled and supports group homes, would also cut programs.
State government’s old budget expired Tuesday at midnight. Lawmakers have been unable to agree on how to fill a deficit estimated at $11.6 billion. The cause of the massive gap is a combination of rising costs, plummeting tax revenue and increased spending by state officials in recent years.
Federal funds and cost-cutting have reduced the deficit to $9.2 billion, Gov. Pat Quinn says, and he has agreed to an additional $1 billion in budget cuts. A plan to borrow $2.3 billion passed in the House but failed in the Senate. An income tax increase passed the Senate and crashed in the House.
The governor wants to raise personal income taxes to 4.5 percent, up from 3 percent, to generate more than $4 billion. He said that is the fairest way to balance the budget without gutting essential human services.
Quinn urged legislators to act like adults and raise taxes, rather than slash key services, to help close the biggest budget deficit in Illinois history.
“If this General Assembly sends me a partial budget that decimates the social safety net of our state, I will veto that budget,” Quinn said.
State Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, is among the Republican lawmakers, along with some Democrats, who oppose raising taxes. They are demanding long-term changes in government health and retirement programs before even discussing taxes.
Lauzen said he suggested a month-to-month continuing appropriation based on the 2008 or 2009 budget – rather than shutting down government.
“It’s not a solution, but it is better than closing the domestic violence shelter in Aurora and laying off a third of the staff at the Association for Individual Development,” Lauzen said. “I think a more responsible approach is to build a bridge budget where we incorporate reforms to Medicare, ethics and spending. Certainly there has to be economies and efficiencies in spending cuts.”
But for agencies that depend on state funds to provide human services, the news that lawmakers cannot reach a compromise is devastating.
“It’s awful,” said Bette Schoenholtz, executive director of Senior Services Associates. “It’s absolutely disgusting. That’s the only word I can think to use. When I was getting a master’s degree in public administration, I was told politics is art of compromise. Where is the compromise? It’s the fight instead.”
The agency serves 25,000 senior citizens in Kane, McHenry and Kendall counties, coordinating services such as community care for the frail elderly and investigating nursing home abuse.
Michael Moran executive director of Breaking Free, said his nonprofit agency will be looking at layoffs unless lawmakers do something. Breaking Free provides community-based substance abuse prevention and treatment services in Kane, DuPage and Grundy counties.
“At this point, nothing sounds good,” Moran said. “Instead of making changes July 1, we will revisit the issue in a couple of weeks. We can only afford to wait a week or two. If there is no resolution, we have to make cuts.”
