All, not just a few, should share state budgetary burden

Imagine you were facing a 50-percent cut in your income and had to decide what you could and couldn’t provide for your family. What would that be like?

Now imagine the plight of hundreds of human service agencies that are trying to continue services to thousands of their clients while being told their state funding will be cut in half starting July 1. What would that look like?

During tough economic times, we are all affected. But the message coming out of Springfield seems to be that while we are all to be affected, certain agencies – namely, human service agencies – should shoulder a greater amount of the burden of funding cuts.

Please contact your legislators and the governor to question the fairness of this approach.

We have received communications from the departments of Mental Health, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and Children and Family Services detailing proposed budget cuts of anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent, totaling $2 million! If those cuts come to pass, 1,700 clients that we would have served will go without!

While Illinois’ human service agencies are being slashed to the bone, other departments of the state are going untouched. For example:

n Full funding for all state employee payroll costs, including funds for a minimum of 4 percent salary increases for union employees.

n Fully funded Medicaid grants for physicians, hospitals and nursing homes.

n Increase in operation costs for public universities and community colleges; spending in these areas actually increased.

n Increased funding for major elementary and secondary education grants such as general state aid and special education.

While these areas of state are important, too, clearly there is not an equal sharing of the burden. 

The lawmakers we have elected need to step up and do the right thing, not the “business-as-usual” thing. The purpose of government is to protect the common good, and it is time that our legislative leaders and the people of our state start thinking about that charge.

We all, collectively, have a responsibility to each other, and we can no longer afford to let greed and selfishness be our guide. Helping the mentally ill, those fighting addiction, providing appropriate, affordable day care, housing and transportation, providing affordable and adequate health care – none of these come cheap. But the cost of not doing them far outweighs the cost of providing them.

Cutting vital human service programs simply balances Illinois’ budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.

As lawmakers return to Springfield, it is my hope that the leaders that we have elected will do what is right, not simply what will get them re-elected.

Does this mean implementing a sales tax increase? Maybe. Does it mean more equitably distributing budget cuts to ALL state agencies? I hope so!

I ask that if you haven’t already done so, please contact your senators, representatives and Gov. Quinn. Ask them to restore full – and equitable – funding for all human service programs. For those who have already contacted the leadership, thank you.

The voice for human services here in Illinois needs to be heard, loud and clear. Some of our most vulnerable citizens cannot fight for themselves – please help.

Note to readers – James R. Sarver is president/CEO of Sinnissippi Centers Inc., which serves Lee, Whiteside, Ogle and Carroll counties.