Lake Effect News

By LORRAINE SWANSON

Editor

Recalling the 1980s when Illinois’s medical institutions dumped thousands of mentally ill wards of the state on the streets of Uptown and Edgewater to fend for themselves, members of the American Federation of County, Municipal and State Employees issued some of the most dire warnings yet of the state’s budget crisis.

Backed by 40 fellow union members, Steve Edwards, president of AFCMSE Local 2858 urged residents attending Sen. Ira Silverstein’s (D-8th) town hall meeting last Wednesday to support a state income tax increase.  Illinois state legislators will reconvene tomorrow to continue budget negotiations.

Thousands jammed into the James R. Thompson Center last Thursday to protest the state legislature's proposed budget cuts to state-funded social service programs, forcing the revolving doors on the Randolph side of the Thompson Center to be locked as a safety measure.

The Illinois General Assembly’s “50 Percent Budget” proposes to close the funding gap by trimming $9.2 billion from the state budget, including $5 billion in state contracts to community social service agencies, and $4.2 billion in state-provided services. The cuts could amount to $2 billion in lost federal matching funds this year, and endanger up to $3 billion in federal stimulus funds over the next two years according to Gov. Quinn’s web site if an increase to the state income tax is not passed.

State employees throughout Illinois are facing 10,000 job layoffs, with IDHS bearing the brunt of job loss by more than half.

“It is insane talking about 10,000 layoffs for state employees throughout the state, and losing 10,000 salaries that are going to support state government and the communities that we live in” Edwards said. “Where is the courage on part of our state legislators?”

Potential program cuts could include closing six out nine state psychiatric hospitals and one-third of the state’s public aid offices, including the Uptown branch at 2112 W. Lawrence.  Proposed program cuts also include eliminating childcare assistance for the working poor, services for the developmentally disabled, ending addition treatment for adolescents and adults, reduced funding for community mental health centers, and closing state schools for the deaf, visually impaired and rehabilitation and education.

Calling the current budget crisis “the worse we’ve seen in our lifetime,” Edwards warned the audience of the potential public safety implications waiting for Illinois residents should the state legislature proceed with its cuts to social services.

“We’re on the precipice of disaster. The situation we’re facing is absolutely horrifying,” Edwards said, an intake worker at the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Family Community Resource Center in Wicker Park. “To close mental institutions and just kick those people out on the street is a horrible way to go, so you can forget about Wicker Park and you can forget about Uptown.”

Edwards was one of dozens of union leaders who met with Gov. Pat Quinn’s staff at the Thompson Center last week to discuss forced furlough days for state employees under the new budget.

“The unions have a problem with furlough days,” Edwards said. “I’m an intake worker. I work hard every day that I go to work. The whole idea of a furlough day implies and I and my co-workers don’t really do anything. I think it sends a horrible message.”

Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators crowded into the James R. Thompson Center plaza last Thursday, many from community-based social service organizations receiving state funds. Security guards locked the revolving doors on the Randolph side of the Thompson Center and directed the public to enter and exit the state building from the LaSalle side.

A security guard remarked that it was an orderly but noisy crowd, and that the doors were being locked for the demonstrators’ own safety. He estimated the crowd at 3,000, stating the outdoor plaza was designed to hold only 1,000.