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 The Services Employees International Union for Healthcare in
Illinois and Indiana has been placing television and radio
advertisements throughout the state, hoping to deter lawmakers from
cutting dollars for child care and home care services for the
elderly.
"These ads are really about educating the public and educating
lawmakers about the importance of these programs and the critical
role that they play in providing family support and care for tens of
thousands of Illinois families," said Brynn Seibert, spokeswoman for
SEIU Healthcare.
In a recently released SEIU radio advertisement, the organization
features a participant of the Illinois Home Services Program saying
that even if funding disappears, his disability won't. In a TV spot,
a working couple from Joliet talks about the need for the state's
child care assistance program. The advertisement ends by urging
viewers to tell state legislators to avoid cuts to child care.
David Morrison, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for
Political Reform, said advocacy groups typically create media
campaigns to encourage the public to lobby their lawmakers.
"(But) because it's so removed from the outcomes, groups are usually
reluctant to take that kind of effort, to put those resources in
that kind of effort, when it's much more direct for them to send
their lobbyists over to talk to a public official," Morrison said.
These messages also sometimes lose focus on the bigger picture.
"Advocacy groups are oftentimes providing information in a way that
is advantageous to their organization and loses the broader
context," said Philip Habel, a professor at Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale, who noted that the effectiveness of
advertisements is hard to gauge.
SEIU Healthcare is advocating specifically that the state's
Community Care Program, Child Care Assistance Program and Home
Services Program be fully funded. And the advertisement campaign
will play a part in getting that done, Seibert said.
"We feel that, given the new budget process, it's critical the
public understands the human consequences of cutting home care and
child care," Seibert said.
Rank-and-file lawmakers this year are charged with crafting the
state budget on a line-item basis. During the past few years, the
Legislature approved a lump-sum budget, passing the task of doling
out funding to specific programs on to the governor.
Under the Illinois Department on Aging, the Community Care Program
each month helps keep about 71,000 elderly residents in their own
homes by providing in-home services, such as laundry, grocery
shopping, social activities and emergency response services.
The Department on Aging estimates it will need $701.4 million to
maintain the program.
Both the Child Care Assistance Program and Home Services Program
operate under the state Department of Human Services, which is
asking to receive $285 million and $787 million, respectively, for
the programs.
The Child Care Assistance Program helps low-income families pay for
child care services, while the Home Services Program works similarly
to the Community Care Program but serves severely disabled
individuals.
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State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, who heads the House budget
committee on human services, hadn't seen all of the commercials, but
she anticipates "breathtaking" cuts all around.
"We cannot spend more money than we have in revenue," Feigenholtz
said. "We need to see data. We need to know that the money that
we're spending is money well spent and that there's an established
goal and those goals are being met."
However, a lead Senate member charged with crafting the human
services budget paints a vastly different picture.
State Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, said the Senate most likely
will be increasing funds for community care programs and keeping
child care funding level.
"I like everything that helps keep pressure on us to maintain these
critical services. I think they're helpful," Steans said. "I'm
hoping we can continue to keep services that are critical to low-
and working-income families and ... for our elderly."
The governor and Legislature have until midnight on May 31 to sign
off on a state budget before the required votes for passage
increases. Lawmakers have been working to craft a state spending
plan since Gov. Pat Quinn's budget speech in February, but exact
numbers have yet to be decided. And with the Senate and House
working with different budget number goals, a final budget may not
surface until the last minute.
Rep. Patricia Bellock, R-Westmont, said she appreciates the message
behind the advertisements, but she said advocacy groups shouldn't be
surprised if they see cuts.
"Remember, lots of times when they go into the new budget, there are
increases in there. You may just be cutting them from what they
appropriated above the last year's line item. Can they exist on what
they had last year?" Bellock said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By MELISSA LEU]
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