Ford, state Dems to work with governor on Illinois FY 13 budget

citizen |

Governor Pat Quinn
Governor Pat Quinn

photo

STANDARD

Rep. La Shawn Ford

Gov. Pat Quinn proposed his $24.8 billion on Feb. 22 to the state legislature, calling for closure of some state prisons and hospitals, and cuts to Medicaid. The governor added in his address to the General Assembly the same day that the state could be on the verge of a financial meltdown because of pension payment obligations that gobble taxpayers money.

The truth is that over the past 35 years, too many governors and members of the General Assembly have clung to budge fantasies rather than confronting hard realities, especially with respect to pension and Medicaid investments, the governor said last Wednesday in Springfield. Today our rendezvous with reality has arrived.

Quinn is looking for all of the state agencies to make across-the-board cuts of 9 percent. He is also proposing to restructure Medicaid, the states health care aid for 2.7 million people, including those who are low-income or poor, which could result in $2.7 million in cuts. The cuts would come in the form of reduced payments to doctors and hospitals, service cuts and limiting eligibility for the program.

Medicaid cuts could have an impact on state Rep. LaShawn K. Fords constituency, including some residents of the West Side.

We must make changes to preserve this vital lifeline that helps so many families. This is one of our biggest challenges and I stand ready to work with the governor and his staff to find out what we need to do to tackle it, Ford said in a written statement after the governors address.

Retirement pensions are dogging the state, financially, Quinn said. He wants to slow down pensions eating 15 percent of the state budget 9 percent higher than five years ago by raising retirement ages, having schools contribute more to teachers pensions and making workers pay more into their own.

For the 2012 budget, the state appropriated $4.1 million for pensions. For the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, Quinn proposed $5.2 million in mandatory pension payments. Over half of the states pension payments are to teacher retirement, 27 percent is to the state university retirement system and 22 percent goes to state employees, judges and state representatives and senators retirement systems.

We must repair this broken system and we must do it now, Quinn said.

Currently the state is $8 billion behind in its bills.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke out on pensions.

The hardworking families who rely on public pensions deserve honest answers, as do the taxpayers who have to honor those pension obligations. The time has come to deal with the states pension obligations and I commend the governor for being forthright, the mayor said.

The governor wants to close the Tamms supermax prison located near the states southern border with Missouri and the Mississippi River, the womens prison in Dwight, five adult transition centers, two juvenile facilities and four mental health hospitals. The south suburban Tinley Park mental hospital is on the list proposed to be shuttered.

State prison population counts reveal a collective system that is nearly 1.5 times over capacity. Under Quinns plan, nearly 3,000 prisoners would be impacted.

But closing the prisons Quinn named would pose a problem for the state, according to a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents prison and human service workers.

Anders Lindall said the prions are irreplaceable because they house the most dangerous inmates (Tamms) and Dwight is the only maximum security facility for women.

Closing them would trigger a dangerous domino effect, destabilizing the entire correctional system and complicating an overcrowding epidemic, Lindall said.

Additionally, the budget calls for consolidation of 24 Department of Human Services offices statewide and streamlining of Department of Children and Family Services offices in Chicago and Skokie. Further agency reductions and efficiencies could reduce personnel counts by about 553.

The 59 closures and consolidations are hard but necessary. They impact every region in our state, but the need for lower spending in our budget gives us no choice, said Quinn.

At a press conference a day before the budget announcement, the governor professed his dedication and commitment to education. Many school districts around the state lament being owed millions of dollars from Springfield. The governors budget calls for a 1 percent increase in education spending with $8.95 billion budgeted. Early childhood education would get $20 million more and the Monetary Award Program for higher education would get a $50 million increase.

Education is the key to a strong economy and a better budget, he said. I want to invest in education: Were going to invest in our scholarship program for deserving students who need a little help to get to college financially and also were going to invest more in early childhood education. Thats one of the best investments government could ever make. It pays dividends for a lifetime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

by Rhonda Gillespie

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.