Gov. Bruce Rauner’s turnaround agenda could seriously hurt everyday people. And it wouldn’t be a double-whammy. It would be more like a quadruple-whammy.
Squared.
The Republican’s proposed cuts to human services in particular could weaken everything from health care and adult protective care to child protective services and child care. Consequences could result in society failing to address real problems, of course, but also – oddly for a billionaire who campaigned on his business skills – could damage local economies.
Where’s the “shared sacrifice” Rauner promised in his January inaugural address? His turnaround targets the vulnerable or the politically weak, from small towns to the jobless.
Facing a $1.6 billion budget gap, Rauner hasn’t aimed at business incentives or tax loopholes for the affluent (much less raising taxes on those able to pay more, as 60 percent of voters supported in November). Instead, he wants to cut services for domestic-violence victims, homeless people and rape victims.
After transferring $1.3 billion and enacting a 2.25 percent across-the-board cut, Rauner on April 3 suspended $26 million in social service and public health grants, reversing course April 30 by restoring the cuts through this month.
Those cuts would have affected the autism program, burial for the poor, developmental-disability funding, epilepsy funding, and mental health programs.
State Rep. David Leitch (R-Peoria) said he was proud of Rauner’s temporary back-tracking.
“As a member of the Human Services-Appropriations Committee, I understand these issues very intimately,” Leitch said. “This is a positive step for people who really need help.”
However, the long-term threat remains – one mirrored at municipalities, which face a 50-percent cut in their share of state income taxes. Cities, counties and townships all argue that local governments balanced their budgets annually while the state put off required pension payments and spent beyond its limits.
“When these cuts are passed down to the local level, the message being sent is: ‘Thanks for doing the right thing; now you have to pay again for our mistakes’,” one area city wrote Rauner. “Why should our hometowns suffer the drastic cuts being proposed against local governments when they didn’t create the problem?”
In metro Peoria, 46 human-service providers employ more than 2,500 workers and directly contribute some $230 million to the Tri-County economy, according to a study by Illinois Partners for Human Service (IPHS) and the United Way. That labor force is more than 2 percent of area employment, a Top 10 employer.
Another study, from the Economic Development Council of Central Illinois and the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, added that total economic contributions to the area top $400 million when also considering what the 2,500 workers spend here.
Based on the IPHS study, the Human Services Collaborative of Greater Peoria coalition says that for each dollar of funding the agencies receive, more than $3.50 is returned to the area.
IPHS likens human services to physical infrastructure, saying, “Just like the bridges and roads we travel on, our human-service system must be well-managed, maintained and renewed in order for people and communities to remain healthy, safe, and prepared for current and future economic challenges.”
House Democrats on May 6 rejected Rauner’s human-services budget, then approved spending more than Rauner proposed. As of press time, negotiations between lawmakers and Rauner’s office continue, and observers speculated that bargaining would continue after the legislature’s scheduled May 31 adjournment.
“We cannot balance the budget simply with cuts … and must not balance the budget on the backs of the most frail and vulnerable,” said House Human Services Appropriations Chair Greg Harris (D-Chicago).
Like organized labor resisting attacks on wages, bargaining rights, workers compensation and more, human-service advocates such as the IPHC are fighting back.
We all should join the cause, because human services help make Illinois a better place to live – and make our economies stronger.