More on state budget

[Guest guest]

From another blog I read called Capitol Fax, saw some interesting news about Pat

Quinn and his agreement with AFSME to keep all state-run facilities for DD

adults open...fyi...I’ll be sharing this with my state legislators today.

Seems to me IF the General Assembly or Governor do manage to ‘find’ any

Supplemental money to pump up some of these line items, it makes more sense to

appropriate supplemental funds to the COMMUNITY side than to temporarily prop up

the STATE OPS side, since community is where we’re heading. Pls share this

message with your local legislators, too, if this issue is important to you!

NO SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR STATE OPERATED RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES. INSTEAD,

APPROVE SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY RESIDENTIAL SERVICES TO BUILD

CAPACITY IN THE COMMUNITY, SO WE’RE READY TO WELCOME PEOPLE COMING OUT OF

SODCs. THIS WOULD BE A MUCH MORE EFFICIENT WAY TO SPEND DOLLARS IN THE SHORT

TERM, WHILE BUILDING LONG TERM CAPACITY TO SERVE PEOPLE WITH FEWER TAX DOLLARS.

Thanks!!

Gov. Pat Quinn plans to issue layoff notices to thousands of state workers

this week as he deals with a budget shortfall he pegs in the hundreds of

millions of dollars, a state government source with knowledge of the situation

told the Tribune.

The governor also intends to announce the closing of several state facilities,

including a prison, juvenile detention center and homes for the mentally ill and

developmentally disabled, sources confirmed. Without action, Quinn’s budget

office says, several agencies would run out of money by the spring.

Quinn is responding to the Democratic-controlled Legislature’s decision at

the end of May to dictate this year’s budget with little input from his

office. The Democratic governor maintains that lawmakers didn’t provide enough

money to keep the state operating for a full year. Quinn, who asked for $2.2

billion more, already has made partial vetoes to the budget and blocked raises

for thousands of state workers, a decision that’s being challenged in court by

the state’s largest government employee union. The union also is expected to

fight the pink slips, citing a no-layoff agreement it struck with Quinn last

year. […]

Unless lawmakers step in, the prisons system won’t have enough money to pay

guards, let alone feed and clothe inmates or provide proper drug addiction

counseling and medical care, according to Quinn budget office estimates. There

also won’t be enough cash to cover checks for workers who care for the

mentally ill and developmentally disabled, or keep the doors open for a full

year at state-operated residential facilities and psychiatric hospitals. The

state also is struggling to cover the cost of the food stamp program and cover

travel costs for workers investigating allegations of abuse or neglect. […]

Some lawmakers warn that Quinn will find little relief as state coffers remain

bare despite the major income tax increase. Republican Sen. Matt , of

Palatine, says the state already spends too much and needs to cut further. He

said moves like shutting facilities need to happen, but that Quinn should have

known that before making a campaign pledge to keep them all open.

During the campaign last year, Quinn forged an agreement with AFSCME that

precluded layoffs and facility closures in return for the union to come up with

budget- balancing ideas. Word is that Quinn will say that the

union hasn’t held up its end of the agreement, a claim the union flatly

denies.