Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Question of the day

Posted in:

Illinois

* What one state program should be exempted from any sort of budget cuts? Explain.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:36 am

Comments

None. Every state program I’ve ever encountered has at least some fat, whether it’s a do nothing employee, money wasted on excessive promotions, etc.

Comment by Anon E. Mouse Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:40 am
Circuit Breaker - IL Cares Rx (run by the Dept on Aging) -

Some of the seniors and disabled it helps are living on $8000 a year ( a few even less still) - the Governor already cut the rent/tax grant these folks get in half - they really can’t afford to be cut further.

I suggest lowering the income guideline and making less people eligible but providing full assistance . . .

Comment by Circuit Breaker advocate Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:41 am
Education. And funding education isn’t just funding education anymore, it’s funding the social services that our low income families need. School districts are now expected to care for families and provide services to them and take care of the issues that many of our families don’t take care of themselves. What WOULD happen if we just educated for education’s sake? Our system would collapse.

Comment by Island Girl Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:46 am
Not to get off-subject Circuit Breaker Advocate…

But if (when) Health Care Reform passes at the federal level, it will close the Medicare Part D donut hole, which is primarily what Illinois Cares Rx covers as a wrap-around to Medicare.

But it should be preserved for those without Medicare.

Comment by George Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:52 am
Revenue collectors who bring in more revenue than they cost in salary and benefits should be retained and more hired. Death to all tax cheaters!

Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:01 am
Not a one.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:02 am
Anything for kids. Yes, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Republicans and am typically fairly fiscally conservative, but kids are the one age group who can do nothing for themselves.

Illinois Cares/Circuit Breaker is a close second, followed by programs for the completely disabled.

Comment by Team Sleep Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:12 am
Mine (just kidding). It’s not a matter of fat, waste, fraud and/or abuse. It is a matter of fiscal reality. While the amounts may vary depending on the agency the pain must be shared. I don’t pretend to have perfect knowledge of what agency should have priority other than concern over life/death issues - law enforcement,etc.

All agencies/programs can lay claim to providing important services - otherwise, why create and fund them? All agencies/programs can present stories of how individuals will be negatively impacted by any cuts - whether it be employees of the agency or the people served.

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:15 am
Early childhood education.

Investing in pre-kindergarten is vital, as it allows for important advances in a child’s cognitive, social, and emotional skills during a time in their life when they are most able to learn and have a profound impact on their future development. Cutting pre-k education has a snowball effect as it causes delays in development for many children and puts them behind the curve, something that could take years to fully catch up (if at all). In the long run, investing in pre-k actually saves money as a little bit of money now would prevent a whole lot of money at various points in the child’s education playing catch-up.

Comment by TJ Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:17 am
Foster care, and not only because the federal courts say its illegal.

Children in the foster care system have been legally separated from their biological parents. We as a state have in fact said “We can do a better job of taking care of your children than you can.”

We have unparalleled legal and moral responsibility for state wards, just as a parent has to their own children.

Balancing the state budget against their futures simply because Tom Cross and Christine Radogno lack the guts to admit a tax increase has to be part of the budget solution would be worse than cowardly.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of education cuts: education is a sound investment with huge rewards. But at the end of the day, when school districts in GOP districts start announcing they’ll have to raise property taxes, I think the pendulum will swing.

Ditto on the municipal share of the sales tax. Quinn was a fool for promising cities he wouldn’t touch their free slice of the pie. What he should have told them was “If you want to keep getting free pie, we need a tax increase.” Well, that’s what he just told them.

Instead of whining to the press, Mayor Daley should call his friend Mayor Stephens who should call his friend Rep. Saviano.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:17 am
None.

The government does not have the resources to right every wrong.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:21 am
@T.J.

Actually, I believe that the academic studies show that while early childhood learning is an extremely sound investment for high-risk kids, it has a declining margin of utility as you move into upper-income brackets.

Not something that Maria Whelan wants folks to know.

Besides, Pre-School for All when we don’t mandate Kindergarten-for-All seems crazy to me.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:21 am
@Pluto

So, should the state stop removing children from abusive homes? Or stop funding foster care programs?

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:22 am
None. Any agency that gets the impression it is protected from any financial scrutiny possibly leading to cuts will become overly complacent, even corrupt.

Take DCFS, which is getting an increase this year, it appears. Run by a Blagojevich appointee still plus an outsized corps of political hacks,
too many layers of overpaid managers, very poor handling of child protection cases (a couple of real and preventable tragedies in the last couple of months alone)and what are these folks going to think when they get the increase. We’re doing great! They’re not. But because they’re a child welfare agency, everybody assumes that should be
left to their own devices. That’s not good for the kids.

Comment by cassandra Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:25 am
The Auditor General’s office should not be cut. If possible, they could probably use more resources now given the ever more complicated financing schemes the state is using to stay afloat.

Let Bill Holland and his team roam freely for a year or two and let him keep 10% of the savings he finds.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:27 am
I would not reduced state funds available to disabled veterans or children or the mentally infirm.

Comment by Jake from Elwood Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:28 am
I agree wholeheartedly with TJ regarding early childhood education. In today’s education system, kids who enter kindergarten without having first been to Pre-K are already behind. Regardless of what some think, Pre-K is not a glorified babysitting service. It is a vital part of our educational system that uses certified teachers just like the K-12 system. I am saying this as a parent whose oldest daughter went to Pre-K and is now in the second grade. I just pray that my youngest daughter will have the same opportunity.

Comment by Old Shepherd Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:28 am
YDD has a good point, as Edgar did yesterday on life and death functions of the state. Not everything is equal.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:29 am
Very few people, if any, have enough information about the budgets of state programs to intelligently determine if cuts could or could not be made. Put the checkbook online and then ask this question.

The state program that puts their checkbook out for the public to scrutinize every penny and is able to prove they can’t cut anything, might deserve to be exempted for being cut.

Comment by TaxMeMore Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:35 am
Education - Each year of school, each class students are enrolled in, is a building block for that child’s future. We can never hope to have a well educated, highly employable, pool of citizens if we short them on their education. That being said I am sure there are areas where even education could stand to be cut.
The big problem here is the budget as presented so far is not a well thought out document. The Governor is cutting those programs that he knows will generate the most noise to support his call for a tax increase.
The Directors, University Presidents, and top officials in all of the programs cut will do the same hoping to get their money reinstated. So the cuts will not come where they are needed, they will come where they will create the most reaction.
The budget should come from a long well thought out study of areas in each agency, commission, board, etc. that are overkill or have duplicated services. CMS is a prime example. The agencies in the state can afford to get along without CMS or at least a reduced CMS, yet CMS has gotten an increase in their budget every year.
Even DNR who has been cut severely could stand to lose some weight at the top.
As a state employee I would go along with pension reform, IF ALL pension systems were lumped into ONE system where my pension comes out of the same fund as the GA and Judges pension, AND they get the same pension I do for the same number of years worked. If MJM wants a two tiered system I assume he is also including new legislators in the newly hired group also. ( Yes, I know the GA members are elected not employed but in the case of the pensions and insurance there should be no difference.)

Comment by irish Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:36 am
Not a one.
And please spare me the civilization will come to an end hokum.
If we dial back the budget to an 05 level of funding it will be unpleasant but acceptable.
I can remember all the way back to 05 and I do not remember any people dying in the streets from a lack of state services.

Comment by Bongo Furry Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:36 am
Cassandra — While DCFS is not perfect, it is wrong to use “tragedies” as an excuse to cut the budget. If anything, that would lead one to channel more resources into child protection and not less.

Comment by Anon E. Mouse Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:37 am
@ YDD

Excellent point, though if you asked me a program that had a much higher positive impact for at-risk children is a selling point, not a negative, as even the most hardcore of fiscal conservatives should be able to see the logic behind improving education levels among those groups and preventing a continual underclass in our state dragging us all down educationally, economically, socially, etc., etc.

…. and I just realize what I said, and I apologize for my poor language. I should not have used that horrible, four letter “L” word when talking about Illinois. Logic has no place here.

Comment by TJ Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:39 am
YDD,

Strong statement from a yellow dog democrat. I have a relative who works in juvenile justice and has stories about children in foster care and the care they receive. Would make our hair stand on end. The stories about the biological families are no less compelling. Hard for any gov’t to not respond to that. Looks bad on the 6 pm news. When the gov’t steps in the community sometimes bows out. This can be generalized to many programs as well.

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:39 am
Home health care for the indigent. these are basically minimum wage workers who save a fortune compared to institutionalizing their clients, which is just about the only alternative in many cases.

Low cost service that saves a ton of money. Protect it.

It’s a no-brainer.

Comment by PalosParkBob Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:39 am
The biggest area that cries out for cuts in foster care is the upper age of recipients.

I recall seeing a report on one “foster child” who was about 21 and had two children out of wedlock under “foster care”.

She was happy as a clam and lived in her own nice apartment, and it was clear from her girth that she certainly wasn’t being cheated on her food allowance.

That’s not what foster care is supposed to be about.

Comment by PalosParkBob Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:44 am
Without a new revenue stream, all state government must take a cut. However, the last, and smallest cuts, should be to General State Aid for k-12 education. Kids only go through life once, and public education is the bedrock upon which our society is based.

Comment by Louis Howe Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:47 am
Sorry, I know this is off topic but does anyone know where I can find a link for the noon budget speech? Thank you!

Comment by Curious Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:48 am
Cut them all. Until there is new revenue, there just won’t be enough money to go around. Until everything is cut, we will have flocks of politicians, lobbyists, and voters using any program that wasn’t cut as proof that the fiscal problems aren’t that bad.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:58 am
I was going to suggest the Auditor General’s Office, but my friend 47th got there first.

This is one place where we get what we pay for in State Government and then some.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:04 pm
Home care programs for seniors and people with disabilities … they save the state millions of dollars by keeping people out of much more costly institutions.

Comment by dave Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:07 pm
George -

The donut hole is a big part of the CB/IL Cares benefit - but not all. I fill out forms for nearly 1000 folks every year, so it’s a program I know pretty well.

For the absolute poorest individuals, Medicaid is already available for help with medical and prescription costs. For them, a $200 grant check as rent/property tax relief makes a real difference, and the $54 discount on plates gives them a nice break too, not to mention a little hope of being able to afford a vehicle.

I understand that kids only go thru life once, and don’t disagree with making education a priority, but please remember that seniors and the disabled only get one life to live. If I had to choose between funding marching band and funding grandma’s medicine - I am sorry but I’d throw out little Johnny’s trumpet!

Comment by Circuit Breaker advocate Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:09 pm
Anon E. M.

Tragedies should, however, lead us to much greater scrutiny of how that money is being spent and whether all the expenditures are targeted to improved outcomes, as opposed to personal and political gain for the bureaucrats involved, not ot mention connected contractors.

The prospect of endless cash does not necessarily lead to improved performance. Rather the opposite, I would say.

Comment by csssandra Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:24 pm
Prisons because if you cut the budget too far you can put guards and prisoners at risk.

Also, I don’t think the average IL citizen wants violent or even non-violent recidivist criminals to be able to use the fiscal crisis to escape a portion of their due punishment.

Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:30 pm
any program which is revenue generating should not be cut. Seems like a bad idea to cut funding to programs and agencies which bring in revenue.

Comment by Ghost Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:31 pm
@dupage dan -

Deficiencies in the current foster care program are an argument for raising standards and increasing resources, not cutting them.

But thank you for helping me to make my point.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:40 pm
===who was about 21 and had two children out of wedlock===

What does it matter if she was married or not?

Comment by Obamarama Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:40 pm
YDD - how many foster children were removed from abusive homes last year? Tens of thousands? Or was it just a few thousand?

Seriously, I have no idea. Can you tell me how widespread the problem you cite is?

Comment by Yoo Hoo Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:42 pm
Oh the question. Education.

If education standards and results go down, so too will everything else.

Comment by Obamarama Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:42 pm
This question & the diversity of responses illustrates why it’s so difficult to cut our state budget. There’s no clear consensus among responders over what if anything should be exempt from cuts. And that’s why the legislature has continued to wring their hands and do nothing for the last 8 to 10 years. Essentially since 2001, we’ve been operating government with a structural deficit. We’re at least two years delinquent in trying to manage or correct the structural budget problem outside of crisis mode. Now it’s crisis and we’ll likely be mired in this mess for several years to come.

Comment by Budget Watcher Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:55 pm
There are only about 16,000 DCFS wards in the Illinois system, many thousands residing with relatives so I would estimate a few thousand removed each year at most.
A sizeable number go home quickly after the family gets a little help but a larger number end up staying in the system for years. Illinois has
always had problems dealing with this latter group, and their length of stay stats badly need improvement.

The number of kids in state care would go down dramatically if the length of stay/permanency problem could be better addressed. But that would
take political will….and a much smaller DCFS would mean a lot few govt jobs and contracts.

Comment by cassandra Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:56 pm
Cassandra — You need to advocate for cleaning up the Department, not just random cuts (although to be clear, there’s fat EVERYWHERE in the state including DCFS).

Cutting a budget won’t make DCFS more efficient, ridding the agency of incompetence will certainly help. And sadly, no amount of money will ever prevent tragedies from occurring.

Comment by Anon E. Mouse Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 12:57 pm
Education. Education is vital to the State’s future. Education reduces many issue problems such as poverty, child care, senior issues and health issues, just to name a few. A strong work force depends on education. The better educated the population; the better society as a whole.

Comment by AJ Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:00 pm
The thing that I find most irritating is that the GA, the people who caused this mess, are unwilling to take any hit. They spent the money we didn’t have. They stole the money from the pension fund, not their own. Yet here they stand on the sidelines unwilling to risk anything while they poke and prod EVERYONE ELSE to fix the problem they created.

Like they say, “If your not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.” I say let’s eliminate the problem. The REAL cuts must come in November.

Comment by irish Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:11 pm
EPA. The environment is in complete shambles and we must continue to fight for it.

Comment by ObamaManFan Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:12 pm
at this point none, thanks to pat quinn’s failed leadership. and it pains me to say none because i do think that the elderly, developmentally disabled, abused children and wards of state are legtimate and worthy concerns of any society.

re: early childhood education (ece)…

what good has it done? if the kids then go onto CPS are we not wasting their time and ours, as well as our money on ece? how many people who actually need to put their children into ece actually do? exactly how effective is ece, and i don’t want info from the ece community, which i have already seen and don’t trust. they vastly overrate themselves, gotta love their bloated operation expenses too. the proof is the pudding so to speak with the horrible education system in places like chicago. on another note, chicago needs to get out the education business and cps needs to be abolished! as it has accomplished nothing and is worthless.

also, many of the families that ece purports to serve are low-income or poor. these families get government subsidized healthcare (medicaid), education (k-12), housing (sec. 8 ) and food (food stamps). how hard is it for an unemployed mom to play educational games with her young children for several hours a day? why should this not be expected of her? gee, is it so hard to sit down with a toddler and take an interest in him or her and play with the abc blocks, see ‘n’ say, and other learning games? it’s only your (her) child afterall, so why can’t (you) she be an ece provider?

Comment by Will County Woman Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:14 pm
To answer the question, I think you need to look seriously at exempting public safety.

@Cassandra - you have no idea what you speak of when you talk about DCFS, or state employees for that matter. DCFS is required by court decrees to maintain staffing ratios. And, your belief in a so-called easy solution to permanency doesn’t exist or it would have been done by now. DCFS has reached a point where you are down to the worst of the worst kids in terms of foster care. Everything that has been done at that agency over the past several years has been to maximize permanency and it has worked well. Their headcount has been significantly cut over the past several years also. What is it exactly that you want from state agencies? Apparently we are all bafoons to you. Would you like to come sit at my desk and audit me? You could then see I do the work of what used to be 5 people. Probably didn’t need to be 5 people before but it definitely needs to be more than 1 now. (By the way I’m on lunch hour).

Comment by RJW Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:29 pm
Programs for the mentally ill — already way too underfunded, arguably a public danger (if you need a reason beyond the humanitarian)

Comment by lake county democrat Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:40 pm
This thread shows why the spineless legislators nave not and will not solve the problem on their own.

Two example. Early childhood education . Studies out in the past two years assert that whatever benefit was gained by the prek programs is no longer measurable by the second grade. Millions are spent of feel good progs to teach kids things that all but the most dysfunctional parents can teach.

Second the environment. The Air, water and soil around us is cleaner than at any tme during our lives . However the burocratic machine continues to redefine it’s mission and instill fear and panic to solidify their river of money.

The same end result can be achieved by learning how to work leaner.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:03 pm
There is no Dept. or Agency that should be immune from Cuts. The key is to cut waste and fat. To the advocates of ece: If this program is so great and doing such a good job, then why are our kids still falling further behind? If it was so good there would be better results. To Education: Cut Administrators and unneccesary programs. Glen Poshard is on TV down here regularly crying about budget cuts, yet spending more and more on a new stadium and other new programs plus hiring a Chancelor at a higher rate of pay than the last one. To Social Services: Cut back to 2004 levels and cut completely all new programs added after 2004. We cant afford to be a Socialist State. To all other Departments: Start cutting from the top down for a change, The front line staff that get the work done is not the problem. Far too much spent for Managers an Administrators who do nothing is the problem.

Comment by So IL M Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:43 pm
Funds for the legislature !

Comment by Bman Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:53 pm
State Boards. Most of them meet once a month at a salary of 50000.00 and they do such a fine job.

Comment by alex Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 3:04 pm
Early childhood totally agree. Also the pretesting that goes along with it to find at risk children and get them the help they need (early childhood programs)

Comment by Third Generation Chicago Native Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:04 pm
Programs for the elderly. These are folks who lived thru the Depression, WWII and the Korean War. They’ve suffered enough.

Comment by Emily Booth Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 6:54 pm
[…] Anything for kids. Yes, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Republicans and am typically fairly fiscally conservative, but kids are the one age group who can do nothing for themselves. Illinois Cares/Circuit Breaker is a close second, followed by programs for … Read Full Story […]

Pingback by Best Free Stuff | The Web’s #1 Place for 100% FREE STUFF Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 7:00 pm
There’s really nothing that can’t be cut at least a little…say 5%. Many could be cut 10-15% without any noticeable damage to the public. It’s all resource allocation. Resources, by definition, are scarce. Limiting resources forces evaluation and prioritizing.

But programs need to be eliminated to solve this problem. The GA needs to recognize that things weren’t that bad 5-6 years ago, and that all the increased spending since then was really just discretionary. Obviously, those affected will claim that the world is going to end if their program is eliminated. But it won’t.

Comment by Park Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 7:51 pm
YDD,

You may not I didn’t fully support your position. Since the gov’t has been involved in our lives for so long it is hard to see a time when maybe it wouldn’t be. The rise of the nanny state can be revealed in a careful reading of history. As our lives changed due to the progression of the industrial revolution and the upheavals of economic losses and military victories we came to accept the fact that the gov’t will be in our lives. A review of the record of our own DCFS doesn’t reflect much promise. I have personally seen the results of that. Putting more money into that will not guarantee better results.

Just as putting more money into education doesn’t guarantee better results. My sister and brother home schooled their children. My sister for personal reasons (a dyed in the wool liberal), my brother for religious reasons (a strong conservative). At various times in each individual’s life, they did opt to join their peers in public schools and were subsequently tested to see where they were in relation to their age levels. All tested much higher. Great results can come from many sources, not just the gov’t.

Comment by DuPage Dan Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:33 pm
Not one program should be exempted.

Comment by Justice Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 9:05 pm
“cut waste and fat”… easier said than done…its an AFSCME Nation..or State out there…very hard for State Agencies to be effective and eliminate uneeded or unproductive staff…. Seniority rules…oh wait…no AFSCME layoffs until 2011…so lets keep beating the Merit comp employees ( furlough days..no raise for five years )…until the moral improves.

Comment by dont AFS CME Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:37 pm
Medicaid. IL will be required to pay back millions in stimulus funding if it fails to ensure maintenance of effort per the stimulus agreement. Medicaid is the only medical “insurance” for nearly 1 in 10 Illinoisans.

Comment by DHS Caseworker Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:07 pm

Add a comment

Sorry, comments are closed at this time.

Previous Post: *** UPDATED x1 w/corrected numbers *** Rasmussen: Giannoulias over Kirk 44-41
Next Post: Budget address live blog - Quinn proposes one point tax hike for schools

Last 10 posts:

Isabel’s afternoon roundup (05-06)
SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list (05-06)
Behind the CMS cost projections (05-06)
The Field Museum unveils earliest bird fossil known to science (05-06)
Today’s must-read (05-06)
Uber Partners With Cities To Expand Urban Transportation (05-06)
It's that time of year again (05-06)
It’s just a bill (05-06)
Pritzker unexpectedly won't rule out service tax for mass transit (05-06)
Open thread (05-06)