 Edgar faced a nearly $2 billion deficit in 1991. Quinn assumed
office in 2009, inheriting a more than $13 billion deficit. Edgar
left office in 1999 with a $1.5 billion surplus, crediting his
success to raising a temporary tax that later became permanent,
cutting state spending and saying "no" to new programs."That took
time, and it took discipline," Edgar said. "The governor, I think,
has to provide that leadership. It's hard for the Legislature to do
that." Quinn's administration isn't hoping for a budget surplus but is
expecting fiscal stability following proposed spending reductions
and recent personal and corporate income tax increases.
Quinn's proposed $35.4 billion spending plan for fiscal 2012
aggressively slashes the overall human services budget by about $412
million, or 11 percent, one of the deepest reductions compared with
other areas.
The state's transportation budget saw a reduction of $67
million, or
86 percent, according to Quinn's proposed
agency funding figures.
However, other departments saw state funding increases, including
3.2 percent, or $224 million, for the Illinois State Board of
Education; 8.9 percent, or $622 million, for the Department of
Healthcare and Family Services; 14.6 percent, or $163 million, for
the Illinois Department of Corrections; and 44.6 percent, or $18
million, for the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity,
according to Quinn's office. Human services are typically cut first when the state is short on
revenue, which is a challenge for nonprofit organizations that
depend heavily on state funding to operate their programs, said
Ralph Martire, executive director of Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability, a think tank that promotes "progressive tax,
spending and economic policies," according to its website.
Kelly Kraft, spokeswoman for Quinn's Office of Management and
Budget, said human services make up $23.9 billion, or 46 percent,
of the state's total operating budget, according to Quinn's spending
plan.
"Human services is a big part of the budget, and so when you take
a look at places where you need to reduce spending, you have to take
a look at some of the places where you have the largest spent,"
Kraft said.
The human services budget also is competing with education,
health care and public safety, all priorities with broader appeal,
Martire said.
"Not everybody has a developmentally disabled adult in their
family," he said. "Not everybody has someone that is suffering from
some mental health concerns in their family. Not everybody has
somebody with substance abuse. You go down the list."
State Rep. Patricia Bellock, R-Hinsdale, agreed that overall, the
human services budget has taken disproportionate cuts compared with
other state agencies because it is a big chunk of the state's
budget.
"But that does not mean we should cut services to the most
fragile population in Illinois," Bellock said. "The blind, the
disabled, the mentally ill -- people who are the reason there is a
government is to provide for people who can't provide for
themselves."
Bellock, who helped to craft the House's human services budget,
said committee members were charged with cutting $1.2 billion in
state spending.
The House's plan restores most funding to prescription drug programs
Circuit Breaker and Illinois Cares Rx. Quinn proposed eliminating
funding for both programs that serve the elderly and disabled. The
House voted to trim operational costs by $181 million.
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"We did the other cuts as best we could on travel, on commodities,
on personal services and tried to provide direct services to the
people in the state of Illinois who are in need," Bellock said
during floor debate.
But state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, disagreed with the
House's human services budget.
"In good conscience, I cannot sit here after all these years and
balance the budget off the backs of the poorest of the poor and the
neediest of the needy," Flowers said during floor debate.
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, who was in charge of
crafting the House's human services budget, defended the committee's
decision to restore several programs Quinn zeroed out and to reduce
grants by 1 percent across the board.
"Everybody shared pain in the human services budget -- everybody," she
said. "And that is what we wanted to do. We wanted to first, do no
harm; take care of our most vulnerable; cut all the fat and as much
admin as we can; and make sure that the people get services. And
frankly, we just did the best we could."
Both the House and Senate restored most funding to alcohol and
drug prevention and treatment programs, all of which Quinn
eliminated. But other programs weren't so lucky. State-operated
developmental centers, which are residential programs serving those
with developmental disabilities, had funding reduced.
State Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago, who was in charge of
crafting the Senate's human services budget, called the process
challenging.
"We were really trying to make sure we were protecting our
neediest folks and make sure we are not balancing budgets on the
most vulnerable folks," Steans said. "So that was certainly one of
the ways we were going about it. It is always challenging when you
have to do reductions. And we clearly we need to be reducing
expenses; we have to live within our means."
The Illinois House's total $33.2 billion operating budget would
spend $12 billion for human services, according to House figures.
The state Senate's total $34.3 billion plan would spend $14.3
billion on human services, according to figures from Illinois Senate
Democrats office. Both figures are lower than the governor's
projected budget.
The General Assembly has until May 31 to approve both budgets and
send it to the governor for consideration.
"In the end, though, the governor needs a balanced budget," Edgar
said. "The governor needs to see this fiscal problem get corrected,
because it is going to be extremely difficult to govern if the
budget is out of whack."
Proposed cuts won't be finalized until lawmakers and the
governor approve the state budget, which would begin July 1. Quinn
will need to work on compromising a final state budget with
lawmakers, Edgar said.
"He is going to have to accept some things and do some things he
doesn't want to do, just as the Legislature is going to have to do,"
Edgar said.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By DIANE S.W. LEE]
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