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More collateral damage

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Illinois

Owed about $200,000 by the state of Illinois, a rape crisis center in Urbana has cut its staff hours and salaries.

And the Rape Advocacy Counseling and Education Services says that without state funding it will have to close by mid-April. RACES, located in Urbana’s Lincoln Square, is among the social service agencies that are not being funded because of the ongoing budget dispute between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic legislators. In 2015, RACES said it served more than 37,408 individuals, ages 3 through adult.

Beginning Monday, the agency cut its staff hours and salaries by 20 percent. […]

The cuts will limit the availability of counselors, legal advocates, and community educators who provide valuable services to survivors of sexual assault, the agency said.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:45 am

Comments

… as Diana Rauner, First Lady and Ounce of Prevention President, sits silently, letting “Bruce Rauner has no social agenda” speak to her feelings on these damaging consequences

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:48 am
It shouldn’t be titled “more collateral damage”. it should be titled “structural reform”. This is the structural reform that Rauner wanted, more for the wealthy, less for the working class and victims. When you hear “structural reform” from Rauner and Radogno and Durkin - think of that three year old at RACE who will no longer be able to get help.

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:48 am
More good news for Radogno. She’s thrilled.

Go get ‘em, Chris!

Comment by Frenchie Mendoza Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:49 am
Todd Maisch should go visit RACE and tell them to “hang in there”.

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:50 am
At what point does the pain inflicted on the most vulnerable and poor in Illinois start to matter to Governor Rauner, Senator Radogno and Representative Durkin? 360 Degree Turnaround’s comment is exactly right.

Comment by Jeff Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:52 am
Maybe Ron Sandack can tweet to us, which we know he can do, about the three year old’s “short term pain” will turn into “long term gain”. What will the three year old’s long term gain be?

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:54 am
==In 2015, RACES said it served more than 37,408 individuals, ages 3 through adult.==

Let that sink in.

There’s no bankruptcy or restructuring that will eliminate the need for these services.

Perpetrators have not agreed to a corresponding 20% cut.

BHNSA.

Comment by LizPhairTax Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 9:54 am
Rauner seems to believe that these kinds of community organizations should be replaced by a corporation that profits from crime by serving raped citizens and their dependents, and making a buck.

As long as the staffers aren’t unionized.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:00 am
As Sen. Radogno said, a shake out was needed.

I guess the next step is to call up that DHS-provided number for their recommended private third party to facilitate “merger” possibilities?

The three principles to social services in the Rauner Era:

Shake Up.

Shake Out.

Shake Down.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:05 am
Jeez. With an endless supply of hostages, we can expect to see this kind of announcement every day.

Comment by SAP Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:06 am
Rauner’s ‘Turnaround Agenda’ is more like “Turn His Back” on the state agenda. This is just another story in the pitiful budget impasse mess. It’s past time for Madigan, Cullerton, Rauner to get this budget resolved.

Comment by East Central Illinois Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:08 am
Of course, we know that Bruce Rauner feels terrible about this. If only the legislature would take up his Turnaround Agenda, he will talk about a budget.
But until then, he feels terrible.

Comment by Austin Blvd Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:09 am
Can someone please provide a link to the remarks by Radogno re social services? I was out of state last week and missed it.

Comment by Joe Biden Was Here Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:10 am
…”With an endless supply of hostages…”

Let THAT sink in for a minute!

Comment by BumblesBounce Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:10 am
Another headline quibble from me: it’s not collateral damage–this is where the cannons have been aimed.

Comment by Earnest Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:11 am
===At what point does the pain inflicted on the most vulnerable and poor in Illinois start to matter to Governor Rauner, Senator Radogno and Representative Durkin?===

When the governor gets his turnaround agenda passed. Not before.

Comment by Name Withheld Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:12 am
EC Illinois, based on your comment, it is clear that you and so many others still do not get it.
Rauner WILL NOT entertain a budget discussion until the legislature adopts his non-budget Turnaround Agenda.
Agreed that Rauner has Turned His Back on Illinois.

Comment by Austin Blvd Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:13 am
The damage is so unnecessary. Rauner keeps running up against a brick wall with Democratic refusal to pass his anti-union policies. No matter what, Democrats won’t pass his agenda. He won’t let it go, and for what, a few future legislative victories that won’t change the basic makeup of the GA?

When legislators couldn’t pass a progressive income tax, they moved on. When MMJ and SSM didn’t pass the first time, advocates worked on passing the bills at other times. No one was held hostage or irreparably damaged.

Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:14 am
Calling this damage “collateral” is beginning to sound overly generous.

Comment by walker Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:14 am
***NEWS FLASH***

REPUBLICANS CREATE FIRST EMPOWERMENT ZONE

Governor Rauner, with Minority Leaders Durkin and Radogno were successful in creating their first empowerment zone in Illinois. The Republican leaders, through their structural reform, were successful in weakening a rape victim advocacy center in Champaign. This will greatly empower the perpetrators of sexual violence.

###

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:15 am
JB–

http://www.sj-r.com/article/20160130/OPINION/160139976

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:18 am
Word +1

Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:19 am
>Rauner WILL NOT entertain a budget discussion until the legislature adopts his non-budget Turnaround Agenda.

I’m not sure I believe that anymore. I haven’t seen anything in his behavior that suggests he has skills in collaboration and compromise, and I wouldn’t put it past him to just keep moving the goalposts.

Comment by Earnest Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:19 am
Enough with these collateral issues. Let’s get to the important stuff:

Is the president going to have a beer with the governor or not?

That seemed very important to some of the governor’s most stalwart supporters the other day.

Curiously, they don’t come around on subjects like these.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:22 am
I fear that it will take for someone previously served by these agencies to become seriously injured (or worse) before funding for service providers is restored. Thus far we haven’t seen the public outrage that it will take to get the Governor and legislative leaders off the dime. Government by reaction rather than good public policy.

Comment by Stones Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:23 am
And in reference to the Diana Rauner commercial during the campaign, my spouse noted that all they proved was that Bruce Rauner preferred to &*(% Democrats. Sadly, that has proven to be true.

Comment by Groundhog Day Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:28 am
Until lawyers and courts are involved on behalf of a victim or death involving some of these lacking services, nothing will happen. Lawyers, courts and money is the only language understood by those in power.

Comment by AnonymousOne Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:31 am
Urbana …home of U if I. You want parents to send their 18 year old daughters here?

Comment by Thoughts Matter Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:36 am
Austin Blvd . . . Oh, I get it. My point is that it is way past time for Rauner, Madigan, Cullerton, in fact, all the legislators, to get moving on the budget. I realize that the Governor is the one who is SUPPOSED to present the budget. In just over another month, Rauner is SUPPOSED to present FY 17’s budget and we don’t even have an FY 16 budget yet.

Comment by East Central Illinois Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:39 am
I’m sure the rape victims are strong supporters of redistricting and term limits and have no problem with this whatsoever.

The Republicans will never get enough of their agenda to justify this. They are going to have to vote for, and sign, a tax increase, and everyone’s response will be “why did you let all these people suffer if you were going to raise our taxes anyway?”

Comment by Century Club Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:39 am
I’d like to see “body counts” from the media, at least once a week. As a child of the Vietnam War era, I know the impact that can have. A TV anchor reading the composite list of closings/staff cuts/reduced hours/large unpaid bills due to the lack of a budget will have a greater effect than hearing of them one news release at a time. Imagine seeing that list in print in a paper or on line.

However, this might take more courage than the media can muster.

Comment by South Central Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:42 am
Earnest, you are right regarding the headline. In this duel, the weapon the Governor chose was not pistols or swords, but human beings, specifically human beings served by social service agencies, who could serve as a “wedge” in his effort to separate unions and Democrats. We are not collateral damage — we are the weapon!

Comment by Pawn Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:47 am
Dear Governor, please let the citizens you represent know how it seems like a good idea to restrict a sexually abused child’s access to resources so that the State *might* see a 1.4% bump in revenue.

Please, tell that 19 year old woman to hang in there.

Miss Radogno, please tell these women that it’s actually good that centers are closing so that they can be consolidated.

Live with that.

Comment by illini97 Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:53 am
OW- I don’t think Dianna Rauner cares. Just because she is the President of Ounce of Prevention doesn’t mean she actually cares about the state of our social services. The privileged are blind and deaf to needs except their own. (with some rare exceptions)

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:58 am
“In 2015, RACES said it served more than 37,408 individuals, ages 3 through adult.”

I guess those 3-year-old sexual assault victims will have to just “hang in there.”

Comment by Nick Name Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:08 am
Every single woman who works for Rauner: why?

Every female Republican legislator,
Every woman married to someone who works or legislates for him,
Every woman in his family,
Any and every woman who lends him cover for his repeated attacks on women and children,

WHY.

Spike Lee wrote a Lysistrata screenplay about the wrong &*^% crisis.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:09 am
col·lat·er·al dam·age n. a general term for unintentional deaths, injuries, or other damage inflicted incidentally on an unintended target.

At what point is this term no longer applicable?

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:10 am
- Honeybear -

I’m just letting her deafening silence speak for itself.

Is the silence a silence of approval, a silence of inner frustration, a silence of regret?

It’s silence, it speaks volumes, but the chapters and verse are left to what we would think someone who cares might or should say, or what someone is an agreement might ignore.

The President of Ounce of Prevention being silent isn’t helping the people in need, that’s the only thing I do know(?)

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:15 am
Aw, geez….you guys are way too soft. Snark.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:21 am
Patti Bellock, Avery Bourne, Terri Bryant, Norine Hammond, Jeanne Ives, Sheri Jesiel, Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, Margo McDermed, Barbara Wheeler, Christine Winger

There are far too few of you in office and even fewer in leadership. It is unfair for you to be held to a higher standard than the glut of men of your party who happily sell out but are never called out.

But women and children and families are suffering the most under this plan your constituents DID NOT VOTE FOR.

They’re suffering as
crime victims
working women
single moms
social service employees

You need female Republican voters in order to exist. If it were up to men, you’d never have been supported into office.

You will cease to get the support you need if you don’t start showing some of the courage and independence of your legendary, MODERATE, RESPONSIBLE Republican foremothers in office.

There are 10 of you. That’s enough if you work together.

Be your better selves.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:26 am
To be clear, the ask is not to fund one rape crisis center.

It’s “budget first.”
Hostages first.

People first.
Then structural reforms.

Those are family values priorities.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:35 am
==col·lat·er·al dam·age n. a general term for unintentional deaths, injuries, or other damage inflicted incidentally on an unintended target.

At what point is this term no longer applicable?==

That time is solidly in the rearview.

I finally cottoned on to the parameters of the bustout 2 weeks ago. I’m sure I wasn’t the first.

Comment by crazybleedingheart Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:48 am
Joe Biden was here- just do a search of CapFax. They’re in there.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 11:58 am
A devastating development for an organization that makes a big difference in the lives of those it serves. Champaign-Urbana has a great need for RACES given its population (combined roughly 127K, metro 230K) and large numbers of U. of I. students whom regrettably, often don’t report rapes through “official” or law enforcement channels out of fear of stigmatization. At what point will “mainstream” GOP members stand-up to Mr. Rauner to end the hostage taking?

Comment by kitty Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 1:27 pm
I don’t believe in “collateral damage” anymore. Social services and universities have been primary targets from the beginning.

Just “squeezing the beast,” baby.

Run social service providers out of business, and those that survive can merge and operate at much-reduced capacity and funding going forward.

Same with universities. Put the squeeze on then and make them shed jobs, programs and Illinois students at much-reduced capacity and funding, going forward.

Given the preposterous fiscal and economic ROI rationales the governor has offered for his Turnaround Agenda, it’s the only thing that makes sense.

No rational person would inflict this kind of damage for those returns and think it was worth it. Unless the damage was the part of the plan to begin with.

You’d run up billions in debt and cause irreparable damage to core responsibilities for goo-goo chestnuts of murky future value and efficacy like term limits and redistricting reform?

It’s simply not believable, not after all these months.

This so-called “collateral damage” is anything but. This is the plan, in action, and it is proceeding as envisioned from Day One.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 1:39 pm
Time to fire up the U of I alumni furor machine. This is disgusting.

Comment by illini97 Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 1:40 pm
I agree with Word that this has been the plan. “Squeeze the beast.”

What I find strange is that unlike Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rumsfield’s lack of planning for the post-apocalypse Iraq, Rauner has planned.

His post-apocalyptic plan includes manipulation of the debt markets, and FEEDING THAT BEAST a $12-25 billion feast.

Comment by cdog Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 1:49 pm
Illini97 - many of us have been involved for a long time and have been contacting our members of the GA.

While many of us are rightly protective of our Alma Mater we do realize that this impacts many other institutions in the State. Not to mention all the other programs being held hostage.

Yet when I contact my downstate representatives, even those outside of my district, I get the same responses from the R’s - almost echoing BVR word for word with their pompous excuses and reasoning.

They are all aware of the $29 million sledge hammer that is being held over their heads.

Comment by illini Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 2:14 pm
illini97, as a fellow UIUC alum, agreed. The State elected officials representing Champaign-Urbana need to be asked to intervene and held accountable if they refuse to do so.

Comment by kitty Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 2:17 pm
…adding rape victims to the list of Rauner’s hostages….

Comment by Juvenal Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 2:25 pm
As each of these groups stop operations, I am surprised to learn the state is funding them in the first place. Not to say they aren’t important social functions, but the theoretical question to me is what should the state fund and why. We simply don’t have the funds to fund every good cause.

Comment by Rhino Slider Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 3:51 pm
–I am surprised to learn the state is funding them in the first place. Not to say they aren’t important social functions, but the theoretical question to me is what should the state fund and why. We simply don’t have the funds to fund every good cause.–

That old gag. Geez, didn’t you trot that out last week?

Let’s try again.

It’s called privatization.

The state used to perform these functions with state employees who earned pensions and benefits.

As a way to reduce the state payroll and cut costs, over time, the state contracted with these private providers to perform these services.

It’s one of the reasons why Illinois has the lowest number of employees per capita of any state government in the union.

These providers have contracts with the state; the state is not honoring those contracts by paying them for services rendered.

The “theoretical question” I have for you is: what do you call someone who signs a contract for a service, then refuses to pay for it?

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 4:16 pm
Wordslinger (4:16) is on the mark. This same remove funding is common in other GOP states. Note the funds removed are commonly ’social services’. This is the new ‘growth’ opportunity for Hedge funds since once killed as non-profits, the Hedge fund takes over as privatized with multiple taxpayer sources. The financial manipulators may the billions and GOP Govs proclaim how great they are! Gov. Bruce made much of his billion doing exactly that but mostly in FL.

Comment by IL17 Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 4:34 pm
IL17,

You are so correct. Everyone should conduct some research on social impact bonds. It has occurred in some states with conservative Governors. Perhaps we will be hearing more soon from the Rauner’s folks. They have been preparing us with the e-mail from the Governor’s Office and statements about the need for”shakedowns” in the non-profit world from so called GOP leaders. It is viewed that it is time for the investment world to make a lot of money in social services in IL. But first they must break the social service industry.

Comment by So Blue Democrat Wednesday, Feb 3, 16 @ 10:52 pm

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