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Dear
Neighbor,
Over the past few months, numerous plans have
been proposed to solve the state's budget crisis, ranging from
income tax increases, devastating cuts in state funding for
human services, and substantial layoffs. On July 15, 2009
the Illinois General Assembly passed a pitiful excuse for a
budget - a haphazard borrowing plan that indiscriminately cuts
services and will exacerbate the already grave problems facing
the state of Illinois.
My friend
Rich Miller, author of the Capitol Fax Blog,
said it best in a blog post shortly after budget negotiations
ended last week:
"The budget - if
you can call it that - which passed the General Assembly
yesterday, has as much as a $5 billion hole in it, borrows over
$7 billion from Wall Street and state vendors, disguises huge
cuts to some private social service agencies with close to 90%
funding for others and sets up the state for a surefire disaster
next fiscal year.
Break out the party
hats.
There is just no
way on Earth that you can call this budget "balanced," or
serious-minded. It is, at best, a punt until next
year. Actually, it's more like a blocked punt with a big
loss of yardage."
This is precisely why - for the first time in my 15
years as a lawmaker - I voted against a budget.
It is
being (inaccurately) reported that human service providers and
grant-funded services will receive 86 percent of their normal
funding -- this is patently false. At best, this figure is
misleading because it is only an average of the cuts that
thousands of providers will face. In reality, while some
providers may be fully funded or see their budgets cut by only 5
percent, others will be faced with cuts of 50 percent or
more.
Another reason I voted NO was because in
this case, the General Assembly completely abdicated its
responsibility for passing a line-item budget, leaving these
decisions to be made at the Governor's discretion. A
lump-sum budget like this is unprecedented in the State of
Illinois.
As Chair of
the Human Services Appropriations Committee, I understand the
need for belt-tightening and know that reasonable cuts were
definitely in order, especially given the excess and waste that
came to define the Blagojevich administration; however, this
lopsided budget will be devastating for the clients of many
agencies and community providers, and will result in layoffs and
program cuts.
I could not in good conscience support
such a jumbled, draconian solution that will further compromise
the state's long-term fiscal solvency. It will put Illinois
into even further debt and create a budget hole for next year
that some predict could top $10 billion. Adding to this,
the state has to pay back the borrowed pension funds...with interest.
Illinois has a structural
budget deficit that has been growing over the last 10
years. Rather than continuing with financial gimmicks,
such as fund sweeps, debt restructuring, sale of assets or more
borrowing, we need a comprehensive solution, which
includes: 1) spending reforms to restore long-term
financial stability, 2) prudent reductions that protect core
services, 3) improvements in our budget process for more
transparency and accountability, and 4) additional
revenues.
Citizens throughout the State are crying out
for a responsible budget, and they want leaders who are willing
to work together to make the difficult decisions needed to move
Illinois beyond its current
financial rut. I am eager to work with concerned parties
and my colleagues to produce a comprehensive, more responsible
solution in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Sara
Feigenholtz
State Representative
12th
District
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