Illinois Budget Cuts In Depth
By: Taylor Krech
Bruce Rauner's take on budget cuts.
In the beginning of June, Bruce Rauner explained his plan to prepare for a shutdown. There were cuts on senior services and childcare. His plan also included closing a few state buildings and killing the plans on the new $1.5 billion dollar Illiana Expressway. There is also a possibility of closing two juvenile detention facilities and five state museums. The governor has until July 15, 2016 to decide how he is going to take action with his budget cut plans. Rauner wants to make sure that public schools keep their funding and signed a bill in June to ensure this. Bruce has only been our governor for eight months and already he is having issues with citizens with democratic views.
Cuts on early childhood care
Subsidized childhood programs help families with low incomes pay for day care. Without day care, parents are unable to go to work or school to further their children's futures. This program was the first that received budget cuts starting on July 1st. Ever since Rauner made the decision to cut the program, almost 5,000 children in Illinois have been denied access to day cares that they have originally been going to for years. Not only is this happening all over Illinois, but in Cook County by itself, has had over 100 child care workers close their doors to families due to the Rauner administration.
Cuts on Senior Living
Medicaid has had some serious cuts that are concerning a vast majority of Illinois citizens. So far senior centers and healthcare funding has been cut by 50 million dollars, just this fiscal year. Around half of senior citizens in nursing homes are on Medicaid after their resources run out. These budget cuts do not directly effect the patients care, although it does make their "home" feel less like an actual home. Unfortunately those who can't afford to stay in their current homes, will be forced to pack their bags and find another place to live. The Affordable Assisted Living Coalition and Caremerge are doing everything they can to stop the cuts. Hopefully the senior citizens who need assisted living will be able to afford the help need without paying ridiculous amounts of money due to the budget cuts.
Additional Issues Caused by Budget Cuts
Recently there have been many shootings in Chicago. In one weekend alone, 53 people were shot and 4 were killed, making this years total number of shootings 400 times higher than previous years. You may wonder how budget cuts and shootings in Chicago are related? The budget from this fiscal year has cut programs that help keep kids off of the streets and programs that prevent violence. Many community jobs are now unavailable to teenagers, along with churches having get rid of after school programs for kids. Without these activities, many teens could get caught up in drugs and violence. In relation to the crime rate, some police officer training programs have been canceled. These programs provide upcoming policemen with proper training to use their force properly and how to deal with certain situations. Police officers need this training to ensure their safety when they are out on the job.
Rauner Budget Cuts