*** UPDATE - 9:53 am *** The governor has quietly signed SB 790, the $220 million special funds sweep bill that will provide funding to keep parks, historic sites and social service programs open and running. The governor’s budget office had repeatedly signaled opposition to the sweeps bill, complaining that some of the sweeps just couldn’t be done.
Developing…
*** UPDATE - 9:55 am *** The appropriations bill, which would spend the money from the funds sweep bill, has apparently not yet been signed.
*** UPDATE - 10:52 am *** The SJ-R gets a quote from the administration…
“The governor did sign the funds sweep bill yesterday. However, there are some funds included in the bill that agencies have expressed concern over. At this point, we don’t know how much will actually be available, so it’s too soon to say how far this money will go,” [spokeswoman Kelley Quinn] said in the statement.
Quinn said the governor had not decided yet what action to take on Senate Bill 1103. That’s the measure lawmakers approved last month to restore spending so two-dozen state parks and historic sites wouldn’t have to close and hundreds of state workers wouldn’t be laid off.
Blagojevich now has until early December to decide what to do with that bill.
“At this point, we have to see how much money is available to spend,” Quinn said.
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[Everything below was written before I - or anybody else, for that matter - realized that the sweeps bill was signed yesterday.]
* Several conservation groups want the governor to veto a bill that would keep state parks open. Sound strange? Well, it is, kinda, but they do have a point. The bill they want vetoed is the special funds sweep proposal, which skims a bit over $9 million from funds benefitng sportsman’s groups, like the Wildlife and Fish Fund, the Illinois Habitat Endowment Trust Fund and the Illinois Habitat Fund…
Members of Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation, Delta Waterfowl, Illinois Audubon Society, among others, are urging Blagojevich to look for another way to fund the state parks, he said.
“It’s not fair to pit two similar groups against each other,” [Dave Grass, president of Winnebago County Pheasants Forever] said.
State park supporters and hunting and fishing supporters are all conservation organizations, said Tom Clay, executive director for the Illinois Audubon Society.
“Funding sources shouldn’t be coming from other dedicated groups,” he said.
They all support land and habitat conservation, he said — several supporters represent both camps.
That’s why he’s hoping Blagojevich vetoes the bill.
“You shouldn’t have to be using habitat money to keep the state parks open,” Clay said.
The problem is that the groups aren’t offering up any alternative. “Don’t cut me, cut the other guy,” ain’t gonna work. There’s a plan on the table that passed both chambers (after weeks of opportunity for public input) and almost nobody uttered a peep until the deed was done.
* Encouraging a veto won’t just hurt state parks and historic sites, as this Bloomington Pantgraph editorial rightly points out…
The bill also provides revenue sources to reverse severe cuts to mental health providers and social service agencies, including money for treatment of substance abuse.
It’s not just about the people facing layoffs because of the governor’s cuts - although that is certainly important.
The bill protects people who need services from these agencies.
Without the additional revenue, they may face longer waits for help or receive no help at all. And when the help needed involves mental health or substance abuse issues, a delay can have a significant negative impact.
* A Rockford Register-Star editorial lays out how payment delays and a big gubernatorial budget cut - which was partially restored with special funds money - is impacting local social service agencies…
The governor cut $55 million — 50 percent — from the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, which sends money on to local agencies such as Rosecrance, Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, and PHASE/WAVE. The General Assembly voted to restore some of those cuts, but the approved legislation has yet to reach the governor.
Those cuts and the payment delays have been devastating to agencies such as Rosecrance.
“Without the restoration of funding and the timely payment for services already provided, these providers of essential service like Rosecrance will have no alternative but to discontinue a number of life-sustaining and life-changing services to people who are most in need of them,” said Susan Rice, Rosecrance public relations director.
* More carnage…
Some group homes for developmentally disabled adults in Central Illinois are closing or are not reopening, partly because of the state’s budget crisis.
“It (the problem) is far greater than the public imagines,” said Dreux Lewandowski, executive director of Macon Resources, based in Decatur. “I haven’t seen it this bad since the ’90s.”
Marcfirst, the Bloomington-based agency, is closing two of its nine group homes — one home in Bloomington and one home in Normal, said CEO Rick Glass. Two residents have relocated outside McLean County, five residents will move into Marcfirst apartments, and three residents will be assimilated into the remaining group homes, Glass said. […]
The agency heads said group homes for the developmentally disabled — called CILAs (community integrated living arrangements) — have been underfunded in Illinois for several years. Funding has worsened recently with delays in state reimbursement payments and with a 2.5 percent rate cut for group homes, they said.
The Illinois Senate and House have voted to restore that cut but final action is up to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Tom Green, of the Illinois Department of Human Services, said late Tuesday that the governor’s office is reviewing the legislation.
* And the world financial crisis is having an additional impact…
agencies that have attempted to delay layoffs in hopes funding will be restored cannot deal with continued uncertainty. That’s especially true in these tough economic times when trying to borrow money can be costly - if a business is able to get a loan at all.
So, in the end, does it really make sense to veto the fund transfer bill and worsen an already horrible situation over money that wasn’t being spent in the first place? These conservation groups need to reconsider their decision.
* Related…
* Efforts to stop budget cuts back in hands of governor
* State sends letters to parks detailing what will happen if they close
* Prison guard union testifies to stop transfer