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* Phil Luciano writes about the demise of a local program because of a $50,000 state budget cut…
For years, TCAP has been the only social-service provider in isolated, ramshackle Richland Farms, otherwise and ingloriously known as The Bottoms. In addition to assisting children with academic and other needs, TCAP has hosted adult workshops on home security, cyberbullying and other topics.
In a forgotten chunk of East Peoria where residents struggle to make ends meet, the project has run a food bank. And amid shacks that lack computers, TCAP has served as a clearing house of information, such as where and when parents can get free school supplies. […]
As of Sept. 16, funding officially will end. The problem goes beyond the Springfield budget impasse. As with other prevention programs aiming to reduce education and crime woes, TCAP’s funding has been erased in the governor’s effort to cut spending.
“Unfortunately, when the state looks at things, prevention programs are the first things to go,” the CYFS’s Glancy says. “But there will be problems later.”
* Bre Linstromberg Copper writes about cuts that will eliminate a detox program…
The Wells Center in Jacksonville will be shutting down its detoxification program on Oct. 1.
Executive Director Bruce Carter said the program is being discontinued because of the continuing state budget impasse and funding reductions by the state.
“It became clear in July that if the state didn’t pass a budget, we would have to start looking at ways to reduce our expenses,” Carter said.
* But…
A five-year pilot project on Interstate 72 east of Springfield will help determine whether there is a better way to extend the life of Illinois’ most heavily traveled highways.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is testing use of a concrete and buffer overlay on a section of I-72 just outside of Springfield as an alternative to the traditional hot-mix asphalt overlay. The just-completed work was part of a multiyear rehabilitation of pavement and bridges on the interstate between Springfield and Decatur.
Nearly 21,000 vehicles travel the popular commuter section of I-72 on the east side of Springfield, according to IDOT figures, including approximately 3,000 heavy trucks daily.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 8:37 am
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While I don’t agree with the cuts to struggling social service providers, I have to point out that the funds for the social service providers and the IDOT study come out of very different pots of money.
The social service provider funding most likely comes out of the General Revenue fund.
It is likely that the IDOT study is being partially funded by the FHWA with MFT funds making up the difference.
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 8:46 am
Shared sacrifice, n. When hungry families and people battling substance abuse suffer together.
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 8:57 am
=Huh?= has a point. But =MisterJayEm’s= point is even stronger.
This Administration uses its spending authority very selectively. The specific pot(s) of money involved don’t seem to matter much.
It’s about choices, and this Administration consistently chooses to aim its cuts at the most unfortunate.
Comment by Linus Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:07 am
I personally know two social service providers who have lost their jobs. I frankly don’t know how the State of Illinois will keep from death spiralling. This stuff is all interconnected folks.
Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:23 am
My brother was helped by the Wells Center in Jacksonville. It seemed like a really good place, and a great use of funds. I would like to see it fully funded. It is money well spent.
Comment by Decatur gal Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:28 am
No worries.
Struggling retailer Amazon is being rescued with taxpayer handouts for a warehouse in Joliet. No other state was in the running for the Chicago-area facility they announced nine months ago.
Call it a housewarming gift.
Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:32 am
Brilliant Wordslinger.
Comment by Juvenal Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:37 am
Down on real help! We demand more fake jobs!
Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:37 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/new-blue-collar-temp-warehouses_n_1158490.html
Comment by crazybleedingheart Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:40 am
Isn’t Peoria a fairly wealthy community. Shouldn’t it be possible for TCAP to access local charitable funds in order to keep going until the budget is finally done and they see how they come out. The entire community presumably has a stake in keeping this place going.
There is a huge amount of charitable money flowing around this state and the country as a whole. Some organizations are more skilled than others at accessing it though.
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:50 am
But think about how quickly Amazon Prime orders can now be delivered to the struggling families of East Peoria!
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 9:50 am
==The entire community presumably has a stake in keeping this place going.==
Exactly, Cassandra. We just have a slightly different view of the scale of that community.
Comment by walker Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:01 am
@wordslinger
Another example of Socialist Government Entitlements for Top 1%.
Thank you for sharing!
Comment by Jack Stephens Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:10 am
Cassandra 9:58am === Isn’t Peoria a fairly wealthy community. Shouldn’t it be possible for TCAP to access local charitable funds in order to keep going until the budget is finally done and they see how they come out. ===
Can’t speak for Peoria, but people are tapped out as government cuts back on social services, and private not-for-profits are less able to raise money by traditional means. This has been going on 10 years and more, all over the state.
Comment by olddog Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:12 am
One reasons those government cutbacks are occurring may be the extreme reluctance of the state’s political establishment to tax the wealthy. Yet one of the principal ways to reduce income inequality is to do just that, tax the immense increases in wealth going to the one percent in the country. Neither Democrats nor Republicans in Illinois seem to have accepted this, despite all the for-the-people rhetoric.
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:33 am
so WORD channel 9 said that Rauner just gave Amazon what Quinn had promised earlier etc I’m against all incetives for bus
Comment by scott aster Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:36 am
There goes DCEO again with the lovely corporate hand out. I’m getting so angry at the corporate parasites and extortionists. Pump the money into Mainstreet instead of Wallstreet!
Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:41 am
Scott, I had no idea that Quinn had such pull in the Rauner administration. Is the governor planning on honoring all of Quinn’s former policies?
These corporate welfare handouts were bad policy under Quinn and they’re bad policy under Rauner.
Look at the cuts above in the era of “shared sacrifice,” yet Amazon gets a handout so a governor can claim “job creation.”
Even worse, a formerly bipartisan, successful, welfare-to-work program is getting shut down, putting great stress on already struggling people, while wildly successful Amazon gets a handout that is absolutlely meaningless to its bottom line.
It’s through the looking glass.
Comment by Wordslinger Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 10:55 am
Poverty levels in Peoria, IL:
http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Peoria-Illinois.html
http://ilpovertyreport.org/county/peoria-county#.Ve8LLf7ov3g
Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 11:22 am
Peoria’s South Side is among the poorest urban areas in the nation. http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/journal_star_peoria.php
Of course, the Richland Bottoms are on the other side of the river, so it’s not really comparable. I grew up near that neighborhood. For the most part, the city of East Peoria is doing its best to erase the area with new commercial developments.
Comment by Tournaround Agenda Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 11:41 am
Cassandra 9:58am - Evidently you believe the fantasy spread by Rep. P.Ryan during last couple national budget and election cycles.
Charities totally debunked the P.Ryan wet dream fantasy of benefactor charitable funds. Only takes a small bit of research to identify how ludicrous the idea of ‘charities will make up the difference’ is.
How many food pantries have billionaire Kochs filled? Or the $60million annual taken out of economic by Gov. Bruce ..
Charities by definition are considered voluntary organizations. So they DO NOT have skilled staff to provide the services the Gov. Bruce delights in destroying.
Comment by IL17Progressive Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 11:47 am
I didn’t say that charities were to take over the organization. I said they could be asked to give them what sounds like a rather modest amount of money to tide them over until we see how the budget comes out. Not all cuts are permanent.
Or perhaps you think it’s better that the agency simply go under–”to make a point” so to speak. Even if this is America, where charitable giving
is huge and there is almost certainly money somewhere for this particular effort.
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 12:21 pm
-Not all cuts are permanent-
I’m not sure that’s true any more. The cuts will be permanent but we will still continue to pay for them. Maybe it was because Labor day was a tough one this year but I’m now of the opinion that the state is going to death spiral to Mississippi territory. High poverty, low service and tremendous inequality. A Plantation state.
Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 1:33 pm
== The administration consistently chooses to aim its cuts at the most unfortunate. ==
Why isn’t this called class warfare? It certainly hurts the least among us far more than a 5% income tax rate hurts the 1%, or the 0.01%. Our conservative friends are so quick to see class warfare in any proposal to base taxation upon ability to pay, yet they are blind to tangible harm their policies impose on the least powerful. And they say their goal is to make IL the most compassionate state in the Union.
Comment by nona Tuesday, Sep 8, 15 @ 2:45 pm
Well, this makes perfect sense. We’ll need good highways if folks are going to have to move around freely to forage for food.
Comment by Dome Gnome Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 8:22 am