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* From the AP…
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich won’t restore state budget cuts until he’s sure the spending plan can withstand an economic slide, an aide said Monday, adding if the financial crises worsen, he might have to cut more.
But a legislative budget-watcher says the state has the money and Blagojevich should use it.
The Democratic governor is sitting on legislation to spare closing two dozen state attractions, laying off 323 workers and cutting drug-abuse treatment by tens of millions of dollars.
But what if the administration restores the cuts only to suffer a revenue slowdown? Illinois is better off than states of similar size but the governor remains concerned, spokesman Lucio Guerrero said.
“We are reviewing our revenue forecast to ensure that we will not have to make further cuts,” Guerrero said. “It would be a shame to propose restorations and then have to rescind them if the economic climate worsens.”
I can’t believe the AP let that one go unchallenged.
So what if the governor restores the cuts and revenue tanks? What does one have to do with the other?
The General Assembly made some very specific cut restorations by using targeted skims from existing money in special state funds.
Even if the overall budget completely tanks, there will be zero impact on the legislative package approved by the General Assembly, because it didn’t rely on any General Revenue Fund money. If GRF goes down, those special funds aren’t reduced.
* What’s going on here is that the guv’s office is saying if GRF is way down they just may cut those programs again. Even after the General Assembly made its will known by overwhelmingly voting to restore funding for those facilities, programs and services.
The argument that some of the skims aren’t allowed, which is made elsewhere in the piece, may or may not have validity. As of yet nobody has laid out the full legal reasoning.
But this game of “I cut, you restore, I cut again” is a bit much.
* Lots of administration types read this blog and comment here. I welcome the input. But I would like all of them to watch this video of a woman and her children being forced out of an alcohol and substance abuse center and into a homeless shelter because of this stupid, disgusting game…
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:15 am
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Couldn’t they set some priorities within the proposed cuts. Does it have to be all or nothing.
Of course, this lady and those like her should not be evicted. But saving the jobs of state middle managers, of whom there are far too many, should not be a priority. These folks are not poor and many of them are already eligible for
early or regular retirement, with pension and health benefits for life. They will not starve. Maybe some of them could be induced to volunteer into a nice retirement, thereby saving the jobs of their colleagues.
If things don’t improve, and that includes a reduction in the tax burden, a sizable number of
us middle class taxpayers who are paying for these nice government bureaucracies will be
starving though. Without the pensions and the health care we funded for our government employee counterparts.
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:29 am
Governor, it’s a “no brainer” please, please, please concur with the House and the Senate. Pay now or taxpayers pay 7 times more later…hundreds of Mom’s like this are hurting and their children are the collateral damage from this budget cut that even endangers their lives.
Comment by Makes Sense to Me... Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:35 am
The video is very humbling. There but for the grace of God…
It’s important to be reminded that there are real people impacted by all this and it’s not just political fun and games.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:44 am
Cassandra, while it’s easy to bash middle managers, talk about pensions, etc., it’s irrelevant. The substance abuse system doesn’t work that way. It’s fee for service. If there’s less money, there are fewer services. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter if you’re heavy on staff or light on staff.
Governor Healthcare is embarrassing himself over this issue. It’s contrary to good public policy and to the principles of the party he supposedly represents. Shameful.
Comment by ilrino Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:46 am
State middle managers? Pensions for life? Government bureaucracies?
Cassandra, what are you talking about?!? The agency portrayed in this video is a private agency, not a government bureaucracy. They have to rely on government subsidies to provide substance abuse treatment to families at risk. There are no pensions for life for the workers there, just unemployment. And the women and children get to go back to a life of poverty, abuse and possibly homelessness.
What about any of that could you or the Governor support? Sounds like you are confused and the Governor is just a heartless freak.
Patrick Fitzgerald, hurry the hell up with those indictments!
Comment by Had Enough! Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:47 am
Cassandra you never cease to keep amazing me with your one sided views of issues. Every issue has two sides yet comments like this “Maybe some of them could be induced to volunteer into a nice retirement, thereby saving the jobs of their colleagues” fail to realize it.
Many of the layoffs are on workers who are not old enough or have enough time to just retire. Don’t think that some of the to be laid off workers did not think of their colleagues. They did. Did you sit and watch gentleman after gentleman sit at a table and have to make their decisions? No. They are people, Cassandra, and the ones sitting there were not middle managements who make plenty of money and will ride off with wonderful pensions. And healthcare? Six to 24 months depending on length of service. My heart goes out to the worker who just found out he has cancer and only 9 months of insurance. All I ask is that you stop and think before making such generalized statements as fact. Spank my hands for my little rant, but the games this governor has played and continues to play with what he views as just numbers on a paper is horrible and it annoys me to see the issue generalized with ‘think of his colleagues’, ‘won’t starve’ ect.
Comment by Princess Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:48 am
==I can’t believe the AP let that one go unchallenged==
Could it be a decline in the caliber of reporters? I don’t know if I’m drinking the blog kool-aid, but I am constantly amazed at what passes for journalism recently…
Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:50 am
Rich,
Can’t you see the writing on the wall? He is saving this money to use for what ever he wants. Not what the legislators voted to use it on. If he so touches 1 penny for anything but what it was allocated for, the impeachment process should be started immediately.
By the way, why can’t we cut back on his spending, such as planes, cars, security? Why can’t he live in the mansion? Why people afraid to challenge him on this?
Travel the country and you will here what a joke Illinois has become!
Comment by I-R-B Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:52 am
And I just watched the video amd my heart breaks all anew. I’ve had my fill of watching workers and citizens suffer at the hands of someone who plays it like a game. Now, taking deep breaths, stepping back and gonna try to chill.
Comment by Princess Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 10:56 am
Cassandra-you are unbelievable! My agency has had its “middle” management cut to the bare bones by Gov. Bag-o-tricks years ago. Additionally, the remaining management has had only two salary increases since the guv took office. All this while incresing their work load. Walk a mile in their shoes before you spout nonsense.
Comment by wizard Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:02 am
This is sad, I feel sorry for the Lady in the video.
To the Gov Admin: STOP THE GAMES ALREADY! Can’t you tell the citizens are sick and tire of them and they DO NOT APPROVE?
To Cassandra: Your constant bashing of State Employees and “Middle Managers” is getting old. Have you worked in State Government? I know many middle managers in government that work dang hard get NO pay raises and put up with more Garbage with this administration than you could imagine. You would not last long in their job.
TO MJM: For the Sake of the State of Illinois Citizens, START THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS!!! It will make you a Hero.
Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:07 am
ilrino-
But that’s my point. The guv is proposing not only
cuts in substance abuse programs but also cuts in
state government staffing, state parks, and so on.
Are all of these equal? Of course not, Making choices is what our elected leaders are supposed to do, and there are priorities within the planned cuts.
I’m sorry that younger employees with less seniority are scheduled for layoff in lieu of their more senior, better paid counterparts, but that is hardly the only way to do it. The guv
coud choose to cut middle and senior managers instead of frontline staff. And given the multipicity of DCFS and DHS offices around Cook County, each with its own crew of highly paid long-time bureaucrats overseeing a shrinking staff, there are places to cut. Of course, those
middle and senior managers are far more likely
to have gotten their jobs through political clout, nepotism, or cronyism than the frontline
caseworkers. So they’ll probably be ok.
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:10 am
Cassandra - WHAT middle managers??? I work for IHPA - our teeny little agency only has 94 employees and 34 are being laid off!!! I resent that you think I am a fat lazy state worker. If you had been here this morning to see the 300 6th graders we had for a free education program on cultural diversity - you might think differently. I would agree with your point that parks and substance abuse programs are different priorities, but You sadly miss the point of the article. The money is there for all of it! As for laying off people in the Chicago area - that will never happen. Its only downstate that gets the layoff notices.
Comment by lincolnlover Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:46 am
—”I’m sorry that younger employees with less seniority are scheduled for layoff in lieu of their more senior, better paid counterparts, but that is hardly the only way to do it”.—
And once again an assumption has been made. Why would you assume younger workers were targeted [DNR]? In the manner these lay-off are being done, by park in only three regions, has allowed other workers with less experience and senority to retain their position while kicking out workers with more experience and senority. It had nothing to do with age. Not to mention it’s a bit assumitive to suggest workers with less senority are younger workers.
Comment by Princess Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:54 am
May I just say that it’s not a stupid game if drug and alchohol rehab centers weren’t caught up in this game. That being said it’s unfortunate that this game is being played.
Comment by Levois Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:15 pm
Call me heartless. Close the park, cut back social services. The special funds were set up to be used for specific purposes and to avoid the vagaries of the annual budgeting fiasco. If the gov or the legislature believe the funds have surplus dollars in them then give the taxpayer a break and stop collecting the fees that go into them. In the case of IDNR most of their special funds were set up at the request of constituencies. It is just plain wrong to use the $ for something other than intended purposes.
Having said that a pox on the gov and the legislature. Set priorities in your budget. Fund the most important and cut back on the lesser. AND DO IT IN THE LIGHT OF DAY.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know why DNR is cutting from where it is. Sam Flood is not going to do anything that might make life difficult for his son Scott Flood or Scott’s drinking buddy Nick in Region 5.
Comment by Leave a light on George Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:33 pm
George, two examples of previous sweeps since Rod.
1. Historic Sites Fund–$669,266
Money from: grants,gifts,donations and bequests
Suppose usage: historic preservation
Came from: general public
2. State Parks Fund $5, 939, 019
Money from: income from state parks via fees, concessions, fines, penalties and various other means
Suppose usage: maintenance, operation and acquisition of state parks.
Came from: anyone who visits state parks
Care to explain to me where this money went to when swept and what it was used for. There’s other examples these two speak loud enough.
Comment by Princess Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 12:50 pm
Princess, I don’t know specifically where the funds went that you speak of but if they were not used for their stated purpose it is wrong.
Where did they go?
Comment by Leave a light on George Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:12 pm
How exactly, LALOG, does sweeping money from IDNR’s special funds help DNR? You’re right, it is wrong. Don’t sweep their funds then maybe (apparently not?) give it back to them. Simply release the funds for their intended purposes. This gov is a sick, mean man.
Comment by IAmWomanHearMeRoar Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:20 pm
I’m not sure what I think about special funds but if their fiscal integrity is as important as some believe, why not change the way they are held so that the guv and the legislature can’t “sweep” them. Guvs and legislators are every-greedy through the ages and they take our money where they can. Surely there is a mechanism for making these funds inaccessible to pols. Again, I think part of the problem is that in Illinois the governor has a lot of statutory power…powers governors don’t have in some or all of the other states. How strong an executive do we want here in Illinois? And what to do if we want some of those powers restricted?
Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:21 pm
It just blows my mind away that someone could go against funding substance abuse treatment. Some people in particular do not see the horizon of the idiotic decision. If the funding is cut then our prison system will be exploding with inmates. As this happens, our tax dollars will be spent building more facilities to house the offenders. What is really sad though is that offenders will not have the opportunity to get the help needed because they will be sitting in their prison cell. It’s awesome that we have programs to keep offenders out of the system. But with our gov’s call, these programs will be decreased or deminished. What will happen then??? More crime, exploding prisons, homeless peolple, recovered offenders turning back to addicts, etc. If the gov does not sign the bill to restore the budget then get ready for complete chaos in our state.
Comment by Restore Substance Abuse Funding Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:38 pm
What strikes me as odd is that people don’t make the connection between Gov. Blago’s cuts on Treatments to “save money” and the fact that those savings are just going to end up costing everyone of us more in terms of court services, jails/prisons, hospital care for the uninsured, and care for families and children left behind. It’s not only short-sighted, it’s incredibly foolish. Gov. Blago needs to reassess what he is doing with his budget: returning Illinoisians as productive, contributing members of our society, caring for their families and paying taxes or lifelong drains on all available resources. It’s shameful.
Comment by Anon E. Mouse Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 1:49 pm
Cassandra,
You should educate yourself more regarding state agencies and their functions. I am one of those “middle managers” that you refer to. Let give me you a quick lesson in what I do. Everything that has to be done on a daily basis to insure that my department functions. My frontline staff do their job, but most will not volunteer to do anything extra because that is “union work”. Without supervisors I can guarantee you that the bare minimum would get done. Senior management is clueless and they are to busy kissing the governor’s backside to get their fat raises. Frontline staff have their union and a contract to protect them, and believe me they know it. Without those of us in the middle applying a little common sense and hardwork most agencies would be worse off than they already are. This may sound bitter. If so, I am sorry. But I am tired of working my tail off and taking it on the nose from every direction — the bottom, the top, and the public. So please next time you spout off about your government expertise, talk to some real staff, who do real work.
Comment by southern illinoisan Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 4:53 pm
Let’s face facts. Blago doesn’t know how to govern. If he did we would not be in this mess. Just hope we can begin to recover from his damage 2 years from now. How stupid can someone be to cut funding for treatment which will increase the prison population? Just the guy who wants to close prisons when they are already over maximum occupancy.
Comment by jimbo Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 6:32 pm
My question is: if Obama becomes president he really does not want this disfunction getting the nat’l attention. With Pres. Jones gone and Obama in DC what options does the Gov have left? He seems box in? All this money spent this cycle blast the Gov record has to bring his numbers lower then ever before? What becomes of the Gov?
Comment by Annon Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 6:45 pm
prison
Comment by Leave a light on George Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 6:52 pm
I think the fact that Illinois School for the Visually Impaired and Illinois School for the Deaf have had their budgets slashed by 3%, staff layoffs of education staff, programs eliminated, etc. is equally disturbing. Feeding the budget by denying a quality education for impaired children?????? Disgusting!
Comment by Puzzled Tuesday, Oct 21, 08 @ 11:09 pm