Lincoln Daily News
welcomes letters of appreciation, information and
opinion on matters pertaining to the community.
Controversial issues:
As a
community we need to be able to talk openly about
matters that affect the quality of our lives. The
most effective and least offensive manner to get
your point across is to stick to the issue
and refrain from commenting on another person's
opinion. Letters that deviate from focusing on the
issue may be rejected or edited and marked as such.
.
Submit a letter to the editor online |
You may also send your letters by e-mail to
ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com
or by U.S. postal mail:
Letters to the Editor
Lincoln Daily News
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
Letters must include the writer's
name, telephone number, and postal address or e-mail address (we
will not publish address or phone number information).
Lincoln Daily News reserves the right to edit letters to
reduce their size or to correct obvious errors.
Lincoln Daily News reserves the right to reject any letter for
any reason. Lincoln Daily News will publish as
many acceptable letters as space allows.
|
|
Dear Editor: In his proposed budget for fiscal year 2008, Gov.
Blagojevich introduced a spending plan that ignores current
underfunded programs conducted by local health departments that
provide critical health protection and promotion services within
Illinois communities. This failure to recognize the benefit of
investing public resources into vital prevention services is
particularly distressful considering the Blagojevich administration
touts health care as a cornerstone of its public policy agenda.
Certified local health departments immunize children, protect our
food supply and prevent infectious disease transmission. In
addition, they respond to emerging public health concerns such as
West Nile virus, food-borne illness outbreaks and pandemic flu
preparedness planning. Current state of Illinois funding for local
health protection services statewide is only $17 million, or just
over $1.42 per person. This funding only supports approximately 5
percent of total statewide local health department expenditures.
[to top of second column in this letter]
 |
 Subsequently, local public health department resources are being
stretched to the point that decisions are being made regarding
service reduction or program elimination. With new public health
threats emerging, and the public's expectation for an increased
presence of local public health services, now is not the time to
leave local public health departments out of state funding
increases.
Elected officials and public policymakers need to insure that the
public health of Illinois is adequately protected by assuring the
appropriate investment of state resources into certified local
health departments in the 2008 budget.
Sincerely,
Roger Bock
President, Logan County Board of Health
[Posted
March 30, 2007]
Click here to send a note to the editor
about this letter.
 |
