The human cost of willful inaction
Monday, Apr 3, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Responsible Budget Coalition totals up the carnage caused by the impasse…
• More than 1 million Illinoisans have lost access to critical services. (United Way)
• 22,000 seniors outside of Chicago have lost access to services such as home delivered meals, transportation and help accessing resources. (Age Options)
• Nearly 47,000 fewer children receive affordable childcare that allowed parents to work and go to school. (SEIU Healthcare)
• Higher education funding has been slashed by $2.3 billion over the past two years — 59% — threatening permanent damage to many colleges amid layoffs, decreased enrollment, academic program cuts, and tuition hikes. (Center for Tax and Budget Accountability)
• K-12 schools are struggling due to cuts to transportation, special education, and school lunches. (The State-Journal Register)
• $0 dollars of state funding has been provided for domestic violence services for the entire state since June 2016, putting thousands of
lives at risk. (Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network)
• Illinois is not funding tuition grants for 130,000 low-income college students, forcing many to drop out. (Young Invincibles)
• 80,000 people in Illinois have lost access to needed mental health services. (National Alliance on Mental Illness, Chicago)
• As rates of opioid addiction steadily rise, over 24,000 fewer Illinoisans were admitted to addiction treatment services. (Illinois Association for Behavioral Health)
• Nearly 30% fewer pregnant women and families with young children have received proven, cost-effective parent coaching and home visiting services. (The Ounce of Prevention Fund)
• 34% fewer women received life-saving breast and cervical cancer screenings. (Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Taskforce)
• 90% of homeless service providers have been forced to cut clients, services, or staff. (Housing Action Illinois)
• 2,311 fewer formerly homeless Illinoisans received needed supportive housing services putting them at risk of losing their homes and entering higher cost systems. (Housing Action Illinois)
• Illinois’ 29 rape crisis centers were forced to lay off staff and cut hours resulting in waitlists for survivors seeking help. (Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault)
• Public transportation used by workers, seniors and those with disabilities has had days and routes cut in Central and Southern Illinois counties. (The State-Journal Register)
• Adult literacy grants were cut by 50%, significantly limiting access to this critical step toward self-sufficiency for the 2.1 million Illinoisans with low literacy skills. (Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition)
• Cuts to HIV/AIDS testing, housing and prevention services are risking lives and increasing stigma. (AIDS Foundation of Chicago)
• Over 100,000 immigrants have lost access to services like citizenship assistance and language access. (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)
• Employment and training programs have been cut, denying job seekers of these cost-effective services. (Chicago Jobs Council)
• Illinois’ agricultural infrastructure has been damaged by cuts to crop research and development, livestock laboratories, soil and water conservation districts, county fairs and more. (Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Farmer Today)
• 21 home healthcare agencies serving low-income seniors and people with disabilities have closed, reduced service areas or capped intake, raising the likelihood of institutionalization. (SEIU Healthcare)
• Services that divert youth from incarceration have been shut down in 24 counties across Illinois. (Illinois Collaboration on Youth)
• As community violence rises, over 15,000 youth have lost access to safe spaces after school. (Illinois Collaboration on Youth)
- Saluki - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:22 am:
Features, not bugs…
- Precinct Captain - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:22 am:
Counterpoint: Rauner and Griffin are richer than ever!
- Anonymous - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:22 am:
The Illinois in which I grew up has died, and I do not see how it can be restored. I loved that Illinois, and I am very sad. Please tell me what will happen now.
- Skirmisher - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:28 am:
Anonymous put voice to my thoughts. Illinois as we knew it is destroyed beyond recovery. Too bad no one under the dome has the capacity to feel either shame or pain.
- Give Me A Break - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:29 am:
Gov. this is your legacy, you created it, you own it and you will answer for it.
- Keyrock - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:30 am:
I understand why the Tronc editorial board doesn’t mention this.
I don’t understand why the Democrats aren’t finding different ways to highlight this message every day.
- DE - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:32 am:
Trench Warfare at it’s finest. Trenches held together with duct tape.
I forgot, are we still winning?
- zatoichi - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:34 am:
Term limits will solve those problems. Numbers like these cause concern. Duct tape avoids the details.
- Arock - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:35 am:
“I don’t understand why the Democrats aren’t finding different ways to highlight this message every day.” Maybe because someone might ask them why they drove Illinois off the cliff(pension debt, no balanced budget for a couple decades, not funding K-12 as required etc. etc…) and why they will not agree to any meaningful reforms to right the ship.
- Mr. K. - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:36 am:
The issue here for someone like Rauner is that none of these things directly impact *him*.
Sure, they’re collateral damage — but it’s far off. It doesn’t mean anything. For a man like Rauner so totally bereft of pathos and sympathy, these people might as well be rabid dogs that had to be put down.
Rauner’s response? A shrug.
*His* dog is fine. But these other ones? They were sick, right? Ok.
- don the legend - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:38 am:
Jimmy Carter got trounced because his government endured a hostage crisis for 444 days (roughly 384 days on election day 1980. Rauner is now at 820 or so days as a hostage taker. Here’s hoping his trouncing in 2018 will be worse.
- Shanks - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:40 am:
Well…is this the Turn Around Agenda?
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:41 am:
Let’s all pay attention over the next few days and see what, if any, play this release gets in Illinois media.
This is a spoon-feeding. If you won’t take that, you just don’t want it, period.
By any concept of real journalism, it should serve as a foundation for actual enterprise reporting: examining how real people are impacted, not just the same old lazy, gossipy, “Bruce and Mike don’t like each other.”
- Moe Berg - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:42 am:
My reaction, when is the Responsible Budget coalition going to choose a side? They continue the middle of the road, both sides are to blame route. And, hanging in the middle of the road, they continue go get winged, smashed by traffic and are bleeding out.
They need to pick a side. As for which side they should choose, perhaps reflect on what life was like for your members before say January 2015 and who is most likely responsible for what your life is like after that date.
- Anonymous - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:47 am:
Sounds like plenty of hostage, plenty of money saved. So, what next? We need to slash who next?
You do have to wonder about some missing compassion, caring gene.
- Wirepoints - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:49 am:
True enough, but what’s not shown is what nobody ever shows: A balanced budget with a survivable tax increase that will fix these things. There’s not one to be had.
- Mr. K. - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:50 am:
So, the obvious question, and I see no one asking this — certainly not the media: given these cuts, how much money has Illinois saved?
I mean, that’s the point, right? It’s the bottom-line. So what is it? How have these cuts helped Illinois?
- Anon221 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:51 am:
Point and RaunerPoint:
• Higher education funding has been slashed by $2.3 billion over the past two years — 59% — threatening permanent damage to many colleges amid layoffs, decreased enrollment, academic program cuts, and tuition hikes. (Center for Tax and Budget Accountability)
Rauner’s response- They are bloated, and there are too many duplicate programs in the state.
• Nearly 30% fewer pregnant women and families with young children have received proven, cost-effective parent coaching and home visiting services. (The Ounce of Prevention Fund)
Diana Rauner’s response- Bruce doesn’t have a social agenda and I got my money from Priztker, so it’s all good.
• 34% fewer women received life-saving breast and cervical cancer screenings. (Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Taskforce)
Rauner’s response- I’m happy to sign a State Proclamation, but not the checks.
• Public transportation used by workers, seniors and those with disabilities has had days and routes cut in Central and Southern Illinois counties. (The State-Journal Register)
Rauner’s solution- Walkin’ is good for you, and dialysis is overrated.
• 21 home healthcare agencies serving low-income seniors and people with disabilities have closed, reduced service areas or capped intake, raising the likelihood of institutionalization. (SEIU Healthcare)
Rauner’s response- You’re better off in one of my buddies’ nursing homes.
• Services that divert youth from incarceration have been shut down in 24 counties across Illinois. (Illinois Collaboration on Youth)
Both Rauners’ response- As long as our name in on the Y, that’s all that matters.
- RNUG - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:55 am:
== So, what next? We need to slash who next? ==
If we were both smart and compassionate, corporate welfare in the form of grants, tax breaks, and giveaways would be eliminated.
- illini - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:58 am:
@Wordslinger - except for those of us who rely on this site for accurate and up to date info, as well as those individuals, families and programs that have been impacted most voters are oblivious to what has been going om.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:07 am:
Does anyone think this will move the needle? ck…where are you with today’s blame assessment?
Embarassing!
- RNUG - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:07 am:
== most voters are oblivious to what has been going on. ==
Unfortunate but true …
- Montrose - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:11 am:
For years we were told by legislators and the media that social services were saying the sky is falling, that the feared cuts in services never materialize. When they do, we will write about it and be outraged.
The RBC list, which is a compilation of information that’s been out there for awhile, shows that was all a bluff.
Real loss of services and real harm don’t mean anything. The media is not going to take that list and write a real story about it. They fundamentally don’t care. That list could double, triple, and it won’t impact the impasse we are in now. There are no perceived electoral consequences for the social safety net fragmenting and falling apart. Until that happens, this list and others like it will do nothing to trigger a meaningful resolution to our woeful situation.
- pawn - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:24 am:
Mr. K, If I could offer a small adjustment to what you said. We are not “collateral damage,” we are the weapon. Collateral damage is “oops, I was not aiming for you!” That’s not what is happening here. We were targeted deliberately to be the “wedges” that Rauner said he needed to destroy unions in Illinois.
- Anonymous - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:31 am:
“Change is hard.”
- Langhorne - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:32 am:
23 very disturbing bullet points. Should be the basis for any number of profound stories.
This has been accelerating every day since rauner took his oath. Sadly, the public impact or outrage has been negligible.
- missed one - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:53 am:
Funding for Epilepsy is gone. Epilepsy Support groups have closed throughout the state due to lack of outside funding. It’s only the Epilepsy Foundation of Chicago that is still operating and they are having to do cover the entire state - not something done easily. With NO state funds. That means down state (south of I-80) are losing this battle.
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:01 pm:
Mr. K, the “savings” are reflected in the explosion of the bills backlog, which was $4.5B when Rauner took office and is $12.6B today.
The state is essentially borrowing money at credit-card juice from vendors by reneging on contracts for goods and services already provided. The same way you “save” when you don’t pay your bills.
That’s what passes for GOP fiscal conservatism these days in some circles.
I’m quite certain that Rauner plans to squeeze all the vendors he can for as long as he can so they’ll accept pennies on the dollar to keep from going under, or, better yet, go bust so he doesn’t have to pay them at all.
That tracks the history of his business ethics in the private sector.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:03 pm:
===the “savings” are reflected in the explosion of the bills backlog, which was $4.5B when Rauner took office and is $12.6B today===
Plus whatever hasn’t been appropriated, like, for instance, domestic violence programs.
- Albany Park Patriot - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:03 pm:
The Tribune story today about Rauner “superstars” shows that they don’t really care about stuff like this. Here are the fruits of their labors.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:05 pm:
Yes, savage cuts have been made. But Governor Rauner will sign the Democrats’ income tax hike, but not until the Democrats detail these cuts in their budget.
isn’t that one of the snags with the grand bargain? That Rauner is insisting Democrats cut these same programs?
- AnonymousOne - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:09 pm:
By any measure this does not look like accomplishing anything other than destruction.
To normal people this term as governor would look like an embarassment.
- AnonymousOne - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:13 pm:
And the explosion of bills backlog incurred by the current governor doesn’t sound much different than the willful shorting of pension funds and the debt associated with it.Only problem is this governor has accomplished alot of debt in a few years. Pension shorting/debt has been over lots of years. Is it a contest?
- Honeybear - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:36 pm:
So Wednesday Prop E is on the ballot in Madison county. If it fails it’s going to have direct results on my family. Prop E is necessary because of the 10’s of million owed by the state to our schools.
It’s super bad for regular folks because if this doesn’t pass they will cut the early bird bus and the late activities bus. Thus my kids won’t be able to take early classes and stay after school for sports or activities. I’ve got to work. My oldest will lose orchestra and my youngest will lose cross country.
But worse working folks will lose ways for their children to distinguish themselves to obtain scholarships to college. We’ll lose teachers and the school district will retract convulsively.
Both my girls have cried in fear recently. We’re killing our kids hopes and dreams.
- Blue dog dem - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:52 pm:
Reads to me like someone is lobbying for tax increases on the working poor and middle classes. The usual cure-all for Illinois.
- Demoralized - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 1:20 pm:
blue dog:
Taxes are going to be part of the solution. You better start accepting that fact.
- IL vet - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 1:27 pm:
If nonprofits were smart, they’d put out the stats for the number of veterans affected by IL budget. The governor loves his photo ops at returning Honor Flights. Maybe his electorate would wake up when they realize how many veterans are among these numbers.
- Blue dog dem - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 1:28 pm:
Dem. Tell me its not so. When havent raising taxes been the solution. This comes as a complete surprise to me. I am a closet tax-aholic..i think we, as a state should increase spending on higher ed, social services, k-12, and infrastructure. Then really hit the middle class. Wait, i sound like Rauner and Madigan
- @misterjayem - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 2:17 pm:
“In Illinois there’s been a long-time history of what I would call social service, social justice, a bigger role for government in the safety net than in many other states. I think we can drive a wedge issue in the Democratic Party on that topic”
— Bruce Rauner, September 18, 2012.
For more than two years, too many people have been denying what they’ve witnessed with their own eyes: Bruce Rauner is deliberately targeting Illinois’ safety net of social services EXACTLY LIKE HE SAID HE WOULD DO.
– MrJM
- Demoralized - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 2:37 pm:
blue dog:
Fine. You tell us all how we dig out of this hole without a tax increase of some sort. I’ll give you the answer. You can’t.
- VanillaMan - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 2:55 pm:
This isn’t going to damage Bruce Rauner!
This list is by Democrats, preaching to Democrats. They didn’t elect Rauner. So Boo-Hoo!
Make a list of what Rauner is going to cost HIS SUPPORTERS.
Start talking to Rauner’s supporters about what Rauner is doing that will cost them. Start talking like an independent or a Republican, so an anti-Rauner message is received by them!
Rauner will win reelection next year if this is the angle the Democrats take during the campaign.
STOP preaching to the Democratic choir with “human costs” -start preaching about how Rauner’s gubernatorial disaster is forcing taxes astronomically higher to repair the damage he has caused!
Think like a Republican -or lose in 2018!
- Happily Retired - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:27 pm:
The list needs to be published on the front page of every paper in Illinois - next to a list of corporate tax breaks and incentives for comparison. Fat chance that will happen.
- blue dog dem - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 4:03 pm:
Dem. The real outrage should be over the failure to advance a progressive income tax. The real outrage should be over the failure to find a few paltry savings. The real outrage should be over looking at the same old tired solutions to solving this states financial problems. Its easy to ignore the working poor and middle classes. We don’t have any representation in Springfield(or Washington). the TA isn’t the answer. By the way, I have identified $2 billion in reductions. Obviously.not everyone is in agree.went with them. Also, how about that city of Chicago earnings tax. Lots of big dollar earnings in That city. Pensions and CPS sure could use a shot in the arm without the state bailing them out.
- Earnest - Tuesday, Apr 4, 17 @ 7:56 am:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20170403/BLOGS02/170409982/group-tallies-the-horrid-cost-of-illinois-budget-war Crain’s
http://www.sj-r.com/ Nothing, or did I miss it?
http://chicago.suntimes.com/ Did I miss it?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ Did I miss it?
http://nprillinois.org/news Did I miss it?
http://thesouthern.com/news/local/without-state-funding-women-s-center-faces-possible-closure-in/article_93d5b911-2ca6-5bb3-ad7f-55c313255d8e.html Nice article, but not related to above. Did I miss it here?
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/ Did I miss it?
http://www.mywebtimes.com/ Did I miss it?
I’m not a subscriber to any of these, so decent chance I did miss it.