//
you're reading...
Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois Budget

Easing Budget Crisis, Gov. Pat Quinn to Reduce Illinois Human Service Mid-Year Budget Cuts

(Chicago, IL) — February 24, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn has personally intervened to reduce the $208 million  mid-year budgets cuts slated for the Illinois Department of Department Humans Services, cuts which had threaten to eliminate 80% of the Illinois substance abuse and treatment services and wipe out other human service programs by March 15, according to an Quinn Administration source.

At a hearing of the Senate Human Services Committee scheduled for today at 10:00 a.m., called by State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago), it is expected that a representative of Governor Quinn’s budget office will announce that the cuts are being reduced to $90 million and that the reductions will be spread around more equitably within DHS to prevent the wholesale elimination of services, a move which had enraged Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike.

Since DHS Secretary Michelle Saddler had informed substance abuse treatment providers on Friday that all state, non-Medicaid funding would be eliminated by March 15, providers around the state had started to freeze new client intakes ordered by the courts and other referrals and shutdown existing detoxification services, leaving thousands of clients suddenly adrift.

Yesterday, nearly two dozen House lawmakers had signed on to a House Resolution, HR 106, including State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), State Rep. Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville), State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), Deputy House Majority Leader Lou Lang (D-Skokie), State Rep. Chad Hays (R-Catlin), which calls on Quinn to halt the implementation of the 80% budget to the state’s drug treatment system.

“The legislature recognizes that all state services must face funding reductions to put our fiscal house in order,” said Feigenholtz at a Springfield press conference yesterday, who sponsored the resolution. “Such budget cuts should be fair and balanced and thoughtfully considered, but Governor Quinn’s cuts to drug treatment fail to meet that criteria.”

Quinn–and his staff–apparently got the message.

About David Ormsby

David, a public relations consultant and blogger at The Huffington Post, is an ex-Press Secretary of the Illinois Democratic Party.

Discussion

2 Responses to “Easing Budget Crisis, Gov. Pat Quinn to Reduce Illinois Human Service Mid-Year Budget Cuts”

  1. As the CEO of New Age Services, an addiction treatment provider in North Lawndale on Chicago’s west side – there is a bit more to this tragic unfolding of events. The issue of a “Medicaid-only” program for addiction treatment as a solution to limited state funds is NOT a solution. Illinois’ Medicaid program, as it stands today, has eligibility criteria that leaves ~80% of those in treatment out on the streets. For those that do qualify, the providers are left in the cold – we have not been paid for DASA Medicaid services since July 1, 2010. The state’s current 5700 Methadone treatment slots are in total jeopardy – Methadone is not covered by Medicaid. Medicaid is also slated for a 6% cut in rates…so how does this help the safety net patients and providers?

    Posted by Kathye Gorosh | February 25, 2011, 7:54 AM
  2. methadone has saved my life and without state help to get it will cost alot more for people like myself to servivein this poverty stricken state through health and welfare and the crime that will accur due to no help for opiate addiction.Removing these methadone slots wont help anything.

    Posted by larry parker | August 13, 2011, 9:38 PM

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Submit your email address and be among the first to receive our posts by e-mail as soon as they are published. It's free.

David Ormsby, Editor

RSS Gov. Pat Quinn

  • McHenry County Blog | Pat Quinn Tells Truth about Pension ... Cal Skinner
  • Illinois General Assembly, Gov. Pat Quinn Must Reconcile ... Marge Berglind
  • Pat Quinn Criticizes Scott Walker On Jobs The Huffington Post News Editors
  • Will Governor Pat Quinn Sign Illinois Budget on Thursday? « Child ... Marge Berglind
  • Quinn: Lawmakers Must 'Show Some Fortitude' On Pension ... Todd Feurer
  • Governor Pat Quinn Puts His Foot Down On Gambling Expansion ... Mark
  • Senate narrowly backs Quinn on facility closures - Capitol Fax.com Rich Miller
  • Democurmudgeon: Gov. Pat Quinn exposes Scott Walker as a fake ... Democurmudgeon
  • Advocates Seek Illinois Child Welfare Vision from Governor Pat Quinn Marge Berglind
  • Chicago News Bench: No, Really, Pat Quinn Still Sucks More Than ... TM-1000

RSS IL General Assembly

  • General Assembly puts health exchange bill on back burner - Crain's Chicago Business May 10, 2012
  • IL educators react to proposed state budget cuts - WREX-TV May 11, 2012
  • Violence Against Women Act Survives Partisan Fight, Quinn Told Not To Close ... - Patch.com May 9, 2012
  • American Progressive Bag Alliance Urges Illinois General Assembly To Pass ... - MarketWatch (press release) May 1, 2012
  • You Paid For It: IL General Assembly Scholarship Program - FOX2now.com May 7, 2012
  • Our Opinion: Anti-bully bill should get OK - The State Journal-Register May 10, 2012
  • Illinois State University considers 4.4 percent tuition increase - Herald & Review May 10, 2012
  • American Progressive Bag Alliance Urges Illinois General Assembly To Pass ... - PR Newswire (press release) May 1, 2012
  • Asian-Americans to have state caucus - WBEZ May 8, 2012
  • Suburban mayors also urge state to pass pension reform - Chicago Sun-Times May 10, 2012

RSS The Capitol Fax Blog

  • Question of the day May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Political cover or political payback? May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Illinois Needs Private Sector Jobs Now! Why Labor Leaders Support Senate Bill 1849 May 10, 2012 Advertising Department
  • Senate narrowly backs Quinn on facility closures - Chamber backs Quinn pension reforms May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • House approves bill to effectively end free employee health insurance premiums May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • *** UPDATED x2 - VIDEO *** Smith hearing resumes today (LIVE Coverage and Video) May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • *** UPDATED x2 *** Not a big deal at all, but it’s probably time to delegate a bit more May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Morning Shorts May 10, 2012 Owen Irwin
  • *** LIVE SESSION COVERAGE *** May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
  • Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - COWL review, supplement to today’s edition and a Statehouse roundup May 10, 2012 Rich Miller
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 135 other followers

Powered by WordPress.com