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* AP…
Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to reduce the number of inmates in Illinois’ overcrowded prison system over the next decade — and he’s willing to devote money to do so at a time when he’s urging lawmakers to be prudent with spending in other areas.
* ABC 7…
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and the National Alliance on Mental Illness slammed Illinois governor Bruce Rauner after Luther Social Services of Illinois had to lay off workers and close programs due to the state budget impasse.
LSSI announced the impending layoffs and closures on Jan. 21. LSSI President and CEO Mark Studrud said the organization, which is the largest statewide provider of social services, is owed $6 million by the state for services it has continued to perform since the impasse began. The organization reports that 4,700 people will lose access to care due to the cuts.
Sheriff Dart said the closures are of particular concern for him because the Cook County Jail has emerged as Illinois’s largest mental health provider after the statewide cuts to mental health funding.
“Our Governor frequently touts his business acumen and data-driven approach to public policy. I would love for him to show me the data proving that his stubborn refusal to consider the interests of the most vulnerable among us does anything other than destroy lives and swell our criminal justice system,” said Sheriff Dart in a statement.
Dart says 25 to 35 percent of inmates in the jail suffer from mental illness at any given time.
* More from Dart’s press release, with emphasis added…
“[LSSI] provides essential services to the very people government is supposed to care for in times of distress. For the Governor to allow these programs to whither way is simply deplorable. Without Lutheran’s diversion programs, my Cook County Jail population will rise, costing taxpayers significantly more in both the short-term and long-term.”
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:04 am
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What was the result of the vote to override BRs veto of the social services appropriation?
Comment by anon. Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:08 am
To the Post,
I do honestly believe there is a severe disconnect with the Governor and truly understanding how government works and the relationship, the true and honest relationship, between how government and specifically Social Service work in concert in an equilibrium and help each other out for a better society.
Rauner’s purposeful painful moves seem to be seen by Rauner in a vacuum of that leverage move, not the 3, 4, 5 other ways that one move hurts so many more, possibly unintendedly.
Then again, destroyin’ things is the feature of Rauner’s choices, not the bug, so there’s that too.
I really want to believe there’s a disconnect. The evidence proving that seems to dissipate with every choice Rauner makes.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:11 am
“Our Governor frequently touts his business acumen and data-driven approach to public policy. I would love for him to show me the data proving that his stubborn refusal to consider the interests of the most vulnerable among us does anything other than destroy lives and swell our criminal justice system,” said Sheriff Dart in a statement.
Ballgame!
Comment by Cubs in '16 Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:11 am
Rauner can start by issuing pardons for non-violent drug offenders.
Comment by Just Observing Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:19 am
Just Observing.
While I agree in principle that many in jail for possession and the like need not be there but if I understand you correctly it reads like you proposing letting that class of inmate out so when the mentally ill and others being served by Lutheran and other social service organizations have no where else to go in the future due to the turnaround agenda conflict that now there will be more room to hold them - n ot treat and care for them - in the Cook County Jail?
Again, I might be misinterpretin you but that’s how it reads to me. My apologies if mistaken.
Comment by LINK Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:34 am
Lutheran Social Services provided and provides assistance to prisoners & exprisoners to transition back into society and hopefully not return.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 9:46 am
I had to read this press release several times. Is he blaming Dart for the State’s lack of a budget?
The governor’s press office responded Sunday by saying Rauner also is frustrated by the lack of movement in Springfield on the state’s nearly seven-month budget stalemate.
“Tom Dart knows very well that groups like Lutheran Social Services could be fully funded tomorrow if he and Mike Madigan placed a higher priority on social services than defending the out-of-control, job-killing power of special interests,” Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said in an email. “While Governor Rauner stands ready to pass job-creating legislation and fund social services in a balanced budget, Tom Dart and Mike Madigan want special interests to keep their power at the expense of social services.”
Comment by Cable Line Beer Gardener Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 10:05 am
I don’t blame “ck” for her ridiculously inane comments.
More likely than not, “ck” was told to stick to the list of approved talking points, add Dart to Madigan somewhere in the Mad Lib silliness and move on.
I’ve learned now it’s Schrimpf for real answers of impact, Lance, when tweeting, has been known to troll AG Madigan or Rep. Lang, and “ck” will pass on things like “Madeupville” passing the Turnsround Agenda Resolutions.
If anything, unless Schrimpf is the one quoted, the Rauner Press Shop sees Dart as a hinderence, not worthy of a full Raunerite response.
Now, if Goldberg wrote a letter…
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 10:12 am
I love the irony — Rauner’s frat boys and sorority girls were barely out of kindergarten at the time, so I won’t hold it against them. But Tom Dart and Mike Madigan were often at each others throats during Dart’s Springfield days.
Comment by j.m. Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 10:23 am
Mike Madigan and the Cook County Sheriff he controls/can’t stand.
Comment by Juice Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 10:29 am
In government, you can rarely do just one thing.
Comment by Langhorne Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 11:13 am
I’m no fan of Dart, but I recognize he’s not always wrong. Here, he nailed it in pointing out the short-sidedness of Rauner’s vision.
And smart to align himself with NAMI, a widely-respected organization that Rauner, in his February 2015 budget proposal, sought to zero out.
Comment by Independent retired lawyer, journalist Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 11:38 am
““Our Governor frequently touts his business acumen and data-driven approach to public policy. I would love for him to show me the data proving that his stubborn refusal to consider the interests of the most vulnerable among us does anything other than destroy lives and swell our criminal justice system,” said Sheriff Dart in a statement.”
Since Rauner is taking over the state agencies IT depts., good luck getting any data.
Comment by Mama Monday, Jan 25, 16 @ 1:24 pm