Chicago welfare agencies ask for budget solutions

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CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Terry Mason has called the state budget battle in Springfield "a political game."

Mason said during a news conference Thursday that lawmakers are using the nation's economic crisis as an excuse for a political battle.

He joined representatives from the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services and various community service organizations to ask state lawmakers to find ways to close Illinois' $11.6 billion budget gap without cutting human services.

They said proposed cuts to their programs would weaken services Chicagoans depend on and possibly cause larger problems.

Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Springfield on July 14 for further budget discussions.