A weekly update on issues from Illinois State Senator Gary Forby

As the end of the fiscal year came to a close this past week, the governor signed the new state budget into law on Thursday. Although this year’s budget could have been a lot tougher than it actually was, it is a telltale sign of the difficult economic times our state and country are both currently facing. It is important to note that this did not happen overnight. Our current situation is a result of more than a decade’s-worth of short-term budgeting strategies and fixes. It is also important to understand that our state’s shortfall is not unique. In recent years, nearly every state in the country has been forced into a budget deficit situation. One report shows that at least 46 states face or have faced budget shortfalls for the upcoming 2011 fiscal year. Another report from the National Conference of State Legislators, a bi-partisan state policy organization, tells us that this economic recession has been the longest, most challenging recession since the economic downturn of 1929. Nearly half of all states experienced a drop below estimated revenues and have combined to total $174 billion in deficits nationwide, a number that continues to grow. All that being said, our governor was dealt a pretty sloppy hand. He was put in a no-win situation in terms of balancing this year’s budget and is trying to manage our fiscal mess as best he can.

Although our state needed to make strategic cuts to correct the budget mistakes of previous administrations, I remain concerned with the impact the cuts could have on social services and education. This year’s budget contains $1.4 billion in reduced spending from last year. The largest cut, $312 million, is aimed at social service programs administered through the Department of Human Services that serve the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. These devastating cuts affect some of Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens. I also worry about the potential effects the $241 million in cuts will have to transportation and reading improvement programs for preschool-12 education. For years I have passed the "hold harmless" law to ensure special education programs were adequately funded at the same level as last years. Unfortunately, this was completely cut from this year’s budget. It is disappointing to see important education programs like this take such a huge hit in this year’s budget.

A major factor our state was forced to take such significant cost-savings steps is because of the steady decline in revenue over the past few years. In 2008, when the national recession began, tax revenues in Illinois took a huge nosedive and since that time our state has lost nearly $4 billion in tax dollars. I have said from day one that our state needs to continue to focus on job creation, which will produce revenue that allows our state pay its bills on time. This will allow our schools to stay open and supply health care providers with the funding needed to keep their services available. Here in Southern Illinois, our school districts rely more on state funding; so with the state nearly six months behind on its bills, our schools are having a more difficult time finding ways to operate in order to prevent more teacher layoffs. Unemployment levels are falling in Illinois, but not fast enough, especially in our district. In May, our state’s unemployment rate dropped to 10.8 percent from a previous high of 11.3 percent, which means people are finding work again and recovery is happening; but recovery will take time. The most important thing for our state is finding a way to restore funding to services and agencies that continue to struggle in our district. I know that the hard-working people of Southern Illinois will keep fighting during these tough economic times and together we will work through this. I will continue to promote job-creating measures at the Capitol to boost our local economy and restore funding for our state’s most vital services.