News
Capitol Rally Protests Budget Cuts
By Nicole Milstead | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 5/7/2009 12:02 AM
SPRINGFIELD - Interest groups from the suburbs and across the state joined together at the Capitol Wednesday to draw lawmakers' attention to budget cuts.
The event named "Rally for the Common Good" was lobbying for Gov. Pat Quinn to restore the $78 million in cuts he proposed to human services programs.
"We all want a strong and prosperous future, and we understand that just as we need well-maintained roads, bridges and schools the state relies on a strong infrastructure of community-based programs - to ensure our children succeed," said Jack Kaplan, director of public policy and advocacy for the United Way of Illinois.
Programs ranging from after-school care to mental-health programs face $50 million in cuts in the new budget Quinn put forward in March.
"We are very concerned about the whole human care safety net," said Dan Schwick, director of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois of Des Plaines. "The areas we are particularly concerned about are youth homelessness and youth services as well as some mental health. Services. There are some glaring cuts we think should be reversed."
The proposed budget to deal with the state's $12.4 billion dollar deficit includes slashing funds for counseling services to foster children, homeless children's programs and adoption and guardianship programs.
"A child's success in the classroom depends on a lot of things that happen outside of the classroom, said Deb Strauss, president-elect of the Illinois PTA. "You can't expect children to do their homework if they don't have a home or that home is tattered by domestic violence or abuse. These cuts put kids in jeopardy."
Messages left with the governor's press office were not returned Wednesday but the governor addressed the issue of budget cuts at an unrelated event.
"We have a huge deficit. We've cut everywhere we can. We've got to pay the bills. We aren't going to cut health care and education, those are fundamental things very vulnerable people are depending on us for," Quinn said. "Illinois is not a wagon train that throws people on the side of the road as we move forward. We have everybody on the train and we take care of everybody."
Daily Herald staff writer Dan Carden contributed to this report.