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Amid the myriad financial problems facing the state of Illinois these days, paying for social services is one more. Both the Courier-News and the Batavia Sun profiled social services in the state - a women and children's domestic violence shelter in Elgin and a senior services group in the Fox Valley, respectively - that depend on state funding to carry out their missions. Both are struggling with covering expenses, including payroll, that the state hasn't paid for since this summer. While the Elgin Community Crisis Center was able to raise about $160,000 through community contributions, Executive Director Gretchen Vapnar knows it won't be enough to keep operating long-term.
"I don't know what's going to happen," she sighed, her hands clasped together as she sat behind her desk. "I don't know what our future holds." [snip] Agencies rely on government funding, foundation gifts and private donations, Vapnar said. The problem this year is that all three sources dried up at the same time, something she has not seen in her 34 years at the center. The crisis center has done everything it can to cut costs amid the declining revenues, even requiring employees to take a two-week unpaid furlough and cutting salaries up to 10 percent, Vapnar said.
Fox Valley Older Adult Services has fared even worse.
[Executive director Cindy] Worsley said Fox Valley Older Adult Services has burned through its reserves and is talking with banks now about extending lines of credit. And now she's faced with a dire situation -- if the state doesn't pay its bills, she'll have to take drastic measures, up to and including closing her doors."Our creditors don't say to us, 'It's OK, don't pay us this month,'" Worsley said. "If we don't get paid soon, and we can't get help from a bank, we'll have to shut down."
Illinois is one of 10 states facing financial peril, according to a study released by the Pew Center on the States. And without an increase in revenues, it seems unlikely that the state will be able to continue to pay for privatized social services, let alone state-operated programs. "Absent passage of House Bill 174 [which would raise the state income tax from 3 to 5 percent and increase the residential real property tax credit from 5 percent to 10 percent], we will continue to be a deadbeat state," said Democratic State Sen. Michael Noland. Unfortunately for such agencies, not everyone agrees. Republican State Rep. Tim Schmitz believes it's a matter of choice. Citing the funding Governor Pat Quinn recently granted the CTA to continue operating without hiking fares, he told the Courier-News that the state needs to decide what it wants to fund. "You cannot keep holding these social service providers hostage," he said.
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This story was written in way that is typical of the media. You act as if the State just woke up one day and had this financial situation foisted upon it. Our politicians pretend that they were innocent bystanders and had no role in this, despite the fact they increased spending by around 40% in the last 8 years.
It is also typical that you cite only social services as expenditures that can be cut. In an effort to appeal emotionally, the only examples you raise are a women-and-children center and a Senior center. This is supposed to conjure images of suffering that cause readers to consider a tax increase as a humane thing to do. You don't suggest that there might be waste in the budget in the form of bloated government agencies, salaries, pensions, and antiquated programs. Raising taxes is just covering for Blago, Madigan, Daley, and the rest of the corrupt Democrat regime that runs this state.
Much like the private sector and individual families, our state government is going to have to cut back one of these days. If they choose to continue raising taxes to placate the unions, they will watch as people and business continue to flee the state.
To the women and children of the
Elgin Community Crisis Center, the seniors at Fox Valley Older Adult Services, and to whom ever else this communication might concern;
Although the agencies that have provided you and your family with an emergency safety net have not been paid since last summer, please understand that you are not alone. In fact, thousands of at-risk-citizens are equally in danger. Hopefully these organizations have good enough credit to get bank loans, as we are not sure if America-Cash
Pay Day loan Centers would be willing to step in.
Further, we regret to inform you that No help is coming until well AFTER the Feb. 3 election when we will then propose a major tax increase.
Some people say that we should have fixed the budget during our last legislative session in Springfield. But frankly we know that YOU would rather that we protected our jobs so we can (by not dealing with this issue until after the election) continue to serve YOU.
We do hope, that you will be satisfied to know that in lieu
of dealing with the sunken wreck called the Illinois budget,
we did take time to change the veto power of the EVIL country board president so you will hopefully no longer have to pay a penny on the dollar for a flat screen TV or bottle of booze. We also know that you trust us policy experts enough to know that Cook County's hospital system needs no new revenue to meet the increased demands of the current economic depression
Happy Thanks Giving!
p.s. we will also assure you that the county board president will not defer balancing his budget until after his election because as fiscal watch dogs of Cook County Government, we as state elected officials( with your support of course) will not let him get away with such a shameless cowardly move.
Sincerely,
The Land of Sink'N