 In their final drafts of the education and human services budgets,
lawmakers restored millions of dollars that the governor had cut
from the 2012 spending plan.But they also trimmed hundreds of
millions of dollars from the budget that Quinn presented earlier
this year.
Quinn made headlines and raised eyebrows in February when he
suggested that the state stop paying for regional school
superintendents, which totaled $12.6 million this year. The governor
zeroed out that portion of the budget for next year, but lawmakers
returned $11.3 million in their draft.
State Rep. Will Davis, D-Homewood, who helped craft the education
budget, said lawmakers feared that doing away with regional
superintendents would cost the state more than the governor's cut
would save.
"When we talked to the State Board of Education, they were
fearful that if the regional superintendents go away, that they
would then have the responsibility to provide all of those services.
So they were panicked, feeling there was no way they could provide
those services," said Davis. "So there was actually some disconnect
between the governor's office and the State Board of Education."
The $11.3 million includes salaries and nearly $2 million in
grant money. Rock Island Regional Superintendent Jim Widdop said the
grants alone used to be $12 million, but any funding is better than
nothing.
"The regional offices have always found a way to do what needs to
be done. But the question is quickly becoming, how much more can we
do with less?" Widdop said.
Lawmakers also returned millions of dollars that Quinn wanted
trimmed from schools' transportation budgets. The governor wanted to
spend $175 million on school buses, but lawmakers increased that to
slightly less than $295 million.
Dan Cox, superintendent of the Jasper County School District,
said that with gas around $4 per gallon and a fleet of aging buses,
he will need every dollar he can get.
"It's needed. (The transportation money) is desperately needed.
We travel 680,000 miles a year with our 56 buses," said Cox. "Some
of them are 14 years old."
But Alene Reuschel, superintendent of Macomb Community Unit
School District 185, said that how much the state plans to spend
does not matter. What the state actually spends is what's important.
"It doesn't matter what the total dollars are if the state can't
pay us what they owe us," Reuschel said.
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But Robert Walsh, of West Chicago, said he thought the state had
taken care of paying the bills with the 67 percent personal income
tax increase enacted earlier this year.
"I thought the tax increase was supposed to take care of all of
this," said Walsh. He was at the Illinois Capitol on Wednesday to
watch his 14-year-old son, Brenden, be a page in the Illinois House.
Walsh said he's watched the budget debate, and he isn't thrilled
with Illinois' state of affairs.
"I'm not very happy with any of it," said Walsh. "I don't think I
get my money's worth from all that I pay."
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, said she heard plenty of
people say they wanted more from the state. In response, she
restored 27 different pieces of the human services budget that Quinn
zeroed out in the final draft she helped craft.
"He chose to take pharmaceuticals away from senior citizens; we
put it back. He chose to take relief away through the Circuit
Breaker (program); we put it back," Feigenholtz said. "We want
services and dollars and assistance to get to the people who have
earned it, paid for it and worked for it their whole lives."
Specifically lawmakers added $1.98 million for funeral and burial
services for low-income families; the governor had scratched that
program from his budget. Quinn also zeroed out money for the
Children's Place, a museum, and for crisis nurseries across the
state that provide emergency shelter for women with babies and young
children. Lawmakers added $487,500 and 100,000 respectively.
The numbers are included in budgets from the Illinois House.
State senators have their own plan. Both have yet to be voted on.
Feigenholtz said compromise is likely, but she expects a final
spending plan to be close to her numbers. She said too many people
worked too hard to produce what she hopes will be a "fair" budget.
"There is not one person under this Capitol dome, after reviewing
the human service budget, that likes it, including all of the
members of the committee. No one is happy here," said Feigenholtz.
"That is because everybody shared pain in the human services budget.
Everybody."
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT] |
