* Oy…
The University of Illinois has so far seen only $400,000 of $317 million it is owed by the state, leading to a virtual hiring freeze and the possibility of furloughs.
And the state may cut even deeper.
The UI has billed the state for $317 million of its current fiscal year 2010 appropriation as of this week, but has received only $400,000 for all three campuses.
* Oy, again…
Before the state’s budget woes stole a piece of her freedom, Felice Dworkin indulged herself with a daily trip to the park. The 83-year-old would board her motorized wheelchair and proudly steer it through the front door of her North Side nursing home. “It was getting out,” Dworkin said. […]
Since the wheelchair broke in June, Dworkin has relied on nursing home employees to push her around in a manual chair. […]
A former state employee, Dworkin said she has asked the repair company repeatedly to fix her chair, but the company, Mobility Systems in Hickory Hills, has refused. The reason? Her insurer, the state of Illinois, still owes Mobility Systems $2,291.12 for her previous two repairs — in November 2008 and in March.
* More oy…
Despite some encouraging signs about Illinois’ overall economy, state government is “floundering” and will continue to do so in the coming months, a top budget expert said Monday. […]
“You’re going to see some drastic cuts happening,” predicted state Sen. Donne Trotter, a Democratic point person on the state budget. “At this point, all we can do is keep the lights on.”
But, didn’t Sen. Bill Brady say that the deficit was only $2.5 billion?
* Sigh…
Progress on the Illiana Expressway project has reached a bottleneck.
During a breakfast meeting Tuesday, Gov. Pat Quinn told supporters of the road proposed to relieve traffic congestion near the Illinois-Indiana border that competition for transportation dollars is “contentious.”
* Notice that none of these new Pat Quinn appointees to Chicago State University’s board of trustees have any sort of experience figuring out how to solve the top problem listed by one of its newest members…
Among the new appointees is Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott, a partner at the Mayer Brown law firm. This year Scott was on Quinn’s Admissions Review Commission, which investigated admissions irregularities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also was the state’s first executive inspector general, appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to investigate wrongdoing by state employees.
The other appointees are environmentalist Julie Samuels, the Green Party’s candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006 and now vice president of the party, a group Quinn undoubtedly would like to tap as he runs in 2010 for the state’s top job. He also named Gary Rozier, an Ariel Investments vice president, and Lisa Morrison Butler, executive director of City Year Chicago, a youth mentoring group.
“The top priorities should be really looking at the retention and graduation rates and seeing if we can put in place a model to improve upon those systems,” said Scott.
* One tiny bright spot…
State lawmakers have moved to lift the biggest roadblock keeping video gambling machines out of Illinois bars.
Last week, the General Assembly voted to give the Illinois Gaming Board more than $2.5 million more to spend, money it needed to hire staff to begin regulating video gambling.