Illinois' Budget Crisis

[mskani]

I swear every year we have some Budget Crisis drama!! Last year or maybe the year before, we were told that we might not get paid and that we could go to one of the credit unions and take out a loan against the amount of our net pay.

I just got off of work a little while ago and one of the "rumors" being circulated is that the governor is proposing to close 40 out of 120 offices and laying off a significant number of employees as well.

All of the posts that I have read so far have made some very valid points on both sides. I think that most people agree that there is quite a bit of waste going on in State government. However, there are some programs that just should not be touched. The foster care program is one that comes to mind, which an earlier poster discussed. Another program that is rumored about is the dismantling of the daycare assistance program. This program assists parents with paying for daycare while they work and/or participate in a welfare to work program (as required for parents who receive TANF--which is the cash portion of the welfare benefit.)

These young women (most of the recipients are women) do not earn very much money. They work at Target, Walmart, etc. If they can't afford to pay for the childcare provider then the provider is going to stop watching their kids. If they don't have childcare, then they can't go to work.

I do not agree with cutting funding to programs that actually give a hand-up versus a hand-out. I'm sure that there are some recipients out there who are "scamming the system" but most are not and they (and their children) benefit from this.

 

[SeedsLuvDisney]

These young women (most of the recipients are women) do not earn very much money. They work at Target, Walmart, etc. If they can't afford to pay for the childcare provider then the provider is going to stop watching their kids. If they don't have childcare, then they can't go to work.

Maybe they should have thought about that before they got into the situation they are. I know people like that, also remember them 20 years ago in high school.. My wife and I have gone to college, rec'd advanced degrees, why can't we keep what we have earned?

 

[mamajoan]

I totally agree that the fat can be trimmed from the budget and programs.

I do believe that we need to protect and help those who can not do so for themselves.

It seems that most feel that way.. but the underlying problem seems to be the feeling that people do not want to help those who seem to be abusing the welfare system. That is understandable. It is aggravating to be a working, self suffiecient person struggling to meet your families needs only to be asked to pay for the care of others who you do not deem to be needy by your standards.

I just don't want to see those programs that care for children, care for the elderly, assist those in Foster care, homes for developmentally disabled, care for the mentally ill, be bludgeoned because they fall under "welfare" assistance.

 

[Carly_Roach]

You have foster care children living in shelters, churches, garages, cars? Who is caring for them? What about the disabled that can't even feed themselves? Where are they living? How are they eating?

We have all kinds of children, foster and otherwise, living in shelters, churches and garages. Who is caring for them? Churches, homeless shelters, food banks. When they can. Money's tight all over. If people don't have money, they can't donate to these places. God knows the businesses aren't doing it.

How are they eating? They're not. I was shocked when I saw people on Freecycle.org offering expired food from 2008, but I was even more shocked when I saw prolific thank you posts to Freecycle.org from families that desperately needed that expired food. All I could think was, "This is Michigan. Good God." and be grateful that DH and I are in a position where we don't have to rely on expired food to survive.

I don't have an accounting of all the people living in their cars, doorways or parking garages (at least until the police oust them and they have to move on). No one does. I just know what I hear from my DH and his buddies when they talk about it from time to time.

While the rest of the country is in a recession, Michigan entered it's depression about two years ago and it's still going strong. The recently released unemployment figures puts our unemployment at just over 14%. And those are the people who are counted; that figure doesn't count the people who've fallen off the rolls after a year or so of not being able to find a job (not because they aren't looking - there simply aren't any to find). With the two major car companies declaring bankruptcy, things look to get worse before they get better.

All we have now is hope. Illinois people will have to learn how to survive just like Michigan people had to and do what they can to strengthen their hope muscle.