With budget in limbo, Illinois agencies begin cutting services, employees

From The AP:

CHICAGO -- With the state budget held up by gridlock in Springfield, some groups that provide government-funded services are laying off hundreds of employees and cutting aid, while others are preparing for similar reductions should the budget stalemate continue.

Maria Whelan, executive director of Illinois Action for Children, said child care for 150,000 children statewide is at risk.

"Come the middle of the month, it's going to be mayhem," Whelan said.

Progress Illinois, a Web site supported by the Service Employees International Union, is trying to track cutbacks at the organizations that state government uses to deliver services at the local level. As of July 10, it reported, 68 agencies had cut at least 1,420 jobs and halted services for nearly 13,500 people.

The people not being served include 165 inmates in county jails around the state.

The nonprofit organization Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities would normally evaluate those prisoners to see whether they could be sent to drug and alcohol treatment instead of jail. But because TASC has required two-week furloughs for many employees, no one can review those prisoners, leaving them sitting in jail at taxpayer expense, the organization said.

"It's clogging the system," said Daphne Baille, a TASC spokeswoman.

Lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday to try to come up with a budget. Illinois faces a budget deficit of roughly $11.6 billion, the worst in state history. The battle over whether to raise taxes or slash spending has dragged on past the start of Illinois' new fiscal year on July 1, leaving local services agencies in limbo.

Gov. Pat Quinn supports a combination of spending cuts and higher taxes. He vetoed a budget that legislators sent him that slashed spending by billions of dollars, much of it state grants to local service providers.

Quinn hopes lawmakers will agree to a temporary budget that will stabilize government services at least until November. In the meantime, his office warns that organizations spending money while the state lacks a budget "do so at their own risk." They might not get that money back.

Some groups can't afford to take that chance.

Marillac Social Center in Chicago laid off almost one-third of its 85-member staff and closed programs to prevent teen pregnancy and substance abuse. "The hard part was that we were already struggling with the economy and a deficit," said Maureen Halligan, executive director of Marillac.

Springfield Arc, which helps mentally disabled adults and children, has laid off 55 employees and notified 300 people that they won't continue receiving such services as assisted living and job coaches. Arc says two of its clients have already lost their jobs because of the cuts in job coaches, who accompany the disabled person and help them understand the job.

The agency also closed a summer camp four weeks early, leaving working parents without child care.

The Neumann Association, a Chicago organization that serves the disabled and mentally ill, also has cut services. The association says four of its clients have been hospitalized for anxiety over losing their caretakers.

Even if lawmakers approve a temporary budget, local agencies would still face uncertainty. Should they spend normally, assuming that they'll ultimately get full funding? Should they cut back now in case the permanent budget includes major reductions?

Diana Rauner, executive director of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, said she knows lawmakers will eventually pass a budget. But in the meantime, programs that have been built up over years are being cut and experienced employees are being fired. Even if funds are returned, she said, serious damage has already been done.

"Essentially, the house is burning and everyone is standing around looking," Rauner said.