Illinois’ doomsday budget crisis

TODAY IS the day when a new fiscal year begins in Illinois--and the state government's "doomsday budget" could become a reality.

Unless something is done to close a multibillion-dollar budget deficit--lawmakers say it amounts to $7 billion, Gov. Pat Quinn says it's more like $9.2 billion--social service agencies will be hit hard and fast.

At the end of May, the Illinois legislature passed a budget that Quinn says underfunds state agencies and programs by at least 50 percent.

If the measures were signed into law, the cutbacks would be catastrophic. The budget for the Department of Human Services would lose $2.2 billion, and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) would lose $460 million, half of the expected state allotment. DCFS would have to lay off 38 percent of its employees--with unknown consequences for the state's most vulnerable residents who rely on the system.

Quinn demanded that legislators reduce the scale of the cuts by increasing taxes--a temporary two-year increase in the state income tax from 3 percent to 4.5 percent and a hike in the corporate income tax rate from 4.8 percent to 7.2 percent.

Lawmakers rejected the tax hikes, leading to a special session while the legislature was supposed to be recessed. State senators gave their approval to a measure for emergency borrowing of around $2.2 billion, but that still leaves a giant hole in the budget, and no clear idea what will fill it.

The list of what would be cut under legislature's budget measure passed in May is mind-numbing. According to analysts:

65,000 people with addiction problems would lose access to treatment;

80,000 low-income working mothers would lose subsidized child care;

175,000 people would lose access to mental health services;

190,000 students would lose college scholarships;

Foster parents would lose 50 percent of reimbursements for caring for children;

State workers would face massive layoffs.

There are pages and pages of program and services that have already been cut--including all psychological evaluations and Systems of Care services, to name a couple that impact just the foster children I work with. What's worse is nobody knows what will happen next.

ONE FAVORITE tactic among lawmakers and the media establishment has been to try to pit the victims of the budget crisis against one another.

For example, in a June 14 editorial, titled "Sharing the pain," the Chicago Tribune acknowledged that 1,500 unionized city workers in Chicago had already received pink slips earlier in the month. But it went on to blame unions as a source of the state budget crisis:

Social service providers and their clients--battered women, at-risk youth, developmentally disabled adults, homebound elders--are...accustomed to their role as hostages to the budget process. When the money gets divvied up each year, they always seem to find themselves at the end of the line, wondering if there will be any cash left for subsidized child care or rape crisis centers after those untouchable union raises are handed out.

That's an outrageous statement coming in a state where government workers have already had to endure their share of pain, even in economic good times--while officials have handed out huge tax breaks to corporations, in the name of "attracting business."

Meanwhile, the U.S. government is bailing out Wall Street banks and corporations where top executives still make more in bonuses than most workers see in decades of hard work--and at the other end of the chain, people who depend on social service agencies in states like Illinois get cut off.

Quinn's proposal for solving the budget crisis by raising taxes has the backing of unions, which have mobilized their members for demonstrations in support.

But the burden ought to be shifted in any tax increase--onto those who afford to give up a greater share. An increase in the flat-rate income tax won't put the burden on the rich, who should be sacrificing in a crisis that they had a greater part in causing than anyone else. And unfortunately, Quinn has indicated he would agree to lower the increase in the corporate income tax rate, in the hopes of attracting Republican votes.

Ask ordinary people what they think should be done to solve the budget crisis, and the answer is resounding--increase taxes on the rich.

ANGER AT the severity of the looming cuts and the politicians' failure to come up with a solution that doesn't hurt working people has boiled up at recent demonstrations and events.

There have been press conferences and enthusiastic rallies across the state in response to the pending cuts. On June 16, the YWCA helped organize a rally to protect funding for health and human services in Chicago, as did the Campaign for Illinois Future. The Teen Parent Connection hosted seven rallies that same day, including one that joined with the Campaign for Illinois' Future protest. Many of the actions were at legislators' offices throughout the Chicago area.

The following day, the Campaign for Illinois' Future again rallied at six legislative representative offices throughout the Chicago area. On June 18 the Child Care Association or Illinois along with Planned Parenthood, Illinois Action for Children and several other social service and community organizations held press conferences and a rally at the State of Illinois building in downtown Chicago.

The Campaign for Illinois' Future kept up the pressure on Friday, June 19, as did service providers in Wheaton, Ill., in a rally at the DuPage County Human Services office to protest the proposed budget cuts.

These are just some of the rallies, large and small, held throughout the state. Social service workers and clients have been the majority of those attending the rallies. Some actions attracted hundreds, some thousands. But no matter how many people or what locale, the message is clear: the working people of Illinois say stop the cuts!

The actions have been spirited and passionate, with handmade signs proclaiming, "Cuts hurt kids" and "We need to work: Our children need day care!" The rallies have been multicultural, multiracial and intergenerational, with children holding colorful signs reading, "Don't leave me behind! I do count!" Many people focused on the upside-down priorities of the state, demanding, "You found money for the Olympics...find money for our programs!"

One of the largest actions took place June 23, when more than 12,000 rallied in the state capitol building of Springfield under the slogan, "Just Fix It." Social Work students from DePaul University reported that when they arrived at the capitol, they were asked to remain outside, because for the first time in more than 25 years the building was at capacity.

When the students finally entered the building to listen to a special budget hearing, they reported, "it soon became clear to all the citizens; that the legislators did not care one bit about social services." While the question of a tax increase was discussed, a lone man with significant physical disabilities started chanting, "No budget cuts!" A security guard warned the students not to say anything, but soon everyone joined in the chant. Reportedly, the legislators looked up in disbelief, and the security guards could do nothing to stop the protest.

For legislators focused only the bottom line, it may have been a surprise to hear from those directly affected by the cuts. I am no economist. I am a social worker. But it doesn't take someone with a Ph.D. to know that prevention works. Even if the budget-balancers want to ignore the human cost of the budget reductions today, these draconian cuts make no sense. It will cost the state exponentially more money in the long term, by way of incarceration and juvenile detention, than the programs currently on the chopping block.

More than a few legislators, business interests and members of the mainstream media have implied that unions are a big part of the budget problem. In fact, unions provide state employees with the protections and rights that every worker deserves. And when it comes to the budget crisis, unions can be a part of the solution--tools for workers to organize themselves and the clients they serve. Union and nonunion workers need to organize together, and not let bureaucrats and politicians sow false divisions among them.

Key to the struggle are social services clients themselves--the people who can speak most eloquently about their needs. Foster parents, teens, the disabled and elderly along with social service workers need to build solidarity with one another.

Most people in society do care about the lives of their family, friends, neighbors and community. Many don't yet understand the full impact of these cuts, and would be appalled and outraged if they did. We need to organize urgently to make our voices heard, and build a movement to fight back.