Campaign for Illinois’ Future rallies in support of new revenue, against cuts

Broad coalition of seniors, healthcare workers, community members call on General Assembly to pass fair budget, protect public services through fair tax increase

Springfield – Over 1,500 members of the Campaign for Illinois’ Future – a broad coalition of community, advocacy and labor organizations – gathered in front of the State Capitol’s Lincoln Statue in Springfield today to urge members of the Illinois General Assembly to protect Illinois families from harmful budget cuts as they begin to make critical budget decisions this week. The coalition is urging state lawmakers to find a long-term solution to the budget crisis that includes a fair income tax increase.

“We’re here today to tell state lawmakers that there is too much at stake in this budget for them to even consider a solution with cuts alone,” said Denise Dixon, executive director of Action Now. “Our state’s most vulnerable families will suffer if funding for the critical public programs they depend on is slashed. Now is the time for our elected officials to truly address the financial crisis in our state by passing a budget that includes a fair income tax increase, not harmful cuts.”

“If the state makes these cuts to home care, people across the state will be forced into nursing homes that are more expensive for them and the state,” said Patricia Rowsey, a home care worker from Quincy. The state’s Community Care and Home Service Programs are facing a combined $66.5 million deficit in the Governor’s proposed budget, and rumored “doomsday cuts” could mean home care for 30,000 seniors and people with disabilities across the state will be eliminated entirely. “It makes no sense. These are people who don’t need 24-hour care, they just need a little extra help to stay in the home they worked so hard for all their lives, in the community they love, and near their families.”

The state’s $12.4 billion budget deficit and unprecedented payment delays have already left many families struggling to get the quality healthcare, education and vital public services they count on in tough economic times. With a “doomsday budget” proposal expected in coming days, legislators could be asked to consider even deeper cuts than those proposed in the Governor’s executive budget, putting services for working families in even greater jeopardy while doing little to solve the structural deficit.

The Campaign for Illinois’ Future is calling on lawmakers to protect vital services by enacting fair tax reform that generates enough new revenue to close the state’s deficit while ensuring tax fairness for low- and moderate-income Illinois residents.

“Illinois needs a real solution to this budget crisis, not a quick fix that will hurt working families now and in the future,” said Sabrina Taylor from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “We’re counting on our elected officials to pass a fair budget – one that includes an income tax increase and tax fairness provisions – so that we can protect critical programs and the working families depending on them. We can’t ask struggling parents, seniors and children to carry the burden of getting us out of this crisis.”

The Campaign for Illinois’ Future (illinoisfuture.org) unites more than 40 organizations across the state to educate Illinois legislators and families about the need for a fair and lasting solution to the state’s financial crisis. Since the launch of the coalition in March, the group has held numerous events throughout the state to emphasize what is at stake in the FY10 budget for working families and pressure elected officials to pass the new revenue needed to protect vital public services for the future.

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