All posts tagged Gov Pat Quinn

Advocates Welcome Quinn OK of Illinois Heroin Study, But Criticize Drug Treatment, Prevention Budget Cuts

Governor Pat Quinn signing legislation earlier this month.

Governor Pat Quinn signing legislation earlier this month.

(Springfield, IL) – Advocates today welcomed a new heroin research initiative approved by Gov. Pat Quinn, but criticized budget cuts to Illinois drug treatment and prevention under the governor’s watch.

Quinn on Tuesday signed legislation to fight heroin use in communities across Illinois through a new law that will expand the scope of a special task force created last year to study heroin use in Illinois and make recommendations to increase awareness and prevention.

“Today’s action is part of Governor Quinn’s agenda to strengthen drug prevention efforts and save lives,” according to the governor’s press statement.

The legislation, House Bill 4542, sponsored by State Rep. Natalie Manley (D-Joliet) and State Senator Thomas Cullerton (D-Villa Park), expands the age range to be studied by the Young Adult Heroin Use Task Force to students in grades six through 12.

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by Jud DeLoss on August 6, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in Governor Pat Quinn, Illinis Substance Abuse Treatment Funding, Illinois Heroin Crisis
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on August 6, 2014

https://ilabh.net/2014/08/06/advocates-welcome-quinn-ok-of-illinois-heroin-study-but-criticize-drug-treatment-prevention-budget-cuts/

Advocates Tell Gov. Pat Quinn Substance Abuse, Mental Illness Are “Connected”

Sara Moscato Howe

Sara Moscato Howe

(Springfield, IL) – Mental illness. Substance abuse. In most tragedies, the two are connected.

A top Illinois behavioral health advocate today praised Governor Pat Quinn for citing mental health care as a top priority in an Illinois public safety strategy in his recent state of the state speech, but warns that substance abuse treatment must be included in the policy mix.

“Any strategy to address mental health care without also addressing substance use disorders will fall short.”  said Sara Moscato Howe, CEO, Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association.

“While there may be a high correlation of gun violence or domestic abuse tragedies with mental illness, there is also a strong relationship of mental illness with unaddressed substance use disorders,” Howe stated.

Quinn highlighted mental health care in his speech to Illinois lawmakers in Springfield on February 6.

“We must move forward with a comprehensive plan that includes gun safety legislation, mental health care, and violence prevention strategies,” said the governor during his remarks.

Shrinking access to care for those struggling with mental illness is a direct result of Illinois state government decreased funding support for mental healthcare.  For those with untreated, or undiagnosed mental health issues, it is common that symptoms are managed through the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs, noted Howe.

“People struggling with mental illness who have no access to professional treatment, self-medicate, often abusing drugs or alcohol in an effort to manage their mental illness,” said Howe. “That’s why any behavioral health care strategy to address public safety must include substance abuse prevention and treatment.”

Howe noted that state funding for substance use disorder treatment has also plunged, dropping 29% since 2009.  State funding for addiction prevention has been obliterated, falling by 87% in the past five fiscal years.

“If behavioral healthcare is to play a central role in an Illinois public safety strategy to reduce violent crime, then Governor Quinn and the legislature will need to fully fund services for Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders,” said Howe.

“Illinois is already paying the price for past behavioral healthcare budget cuts.”

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by Jud DeLoss on February 12, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Substance Abuse Treatment
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on February 12, 2013

https://ilabh.net/2013/02/12/advocates-tell-gov-pat-quinn-substance-abuse-mental-illness-are-connected/

Gov. Pat Quinn’s Illinois Budget Eliminates Drug Prevention for 34,593 Illinois Youth

Illinois substance abuse prevention funding cuts are a ritual in Illinois. But IADDA and its supporters have repeatedly fought back–and won.

(Springfield, IL) – Illinois’ alcohol and drug prevention advocates today denounced Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed budget for next year, saying it will eliminate drug prevention services for more than 34,593 Illinois youth.

“This budget will break the back of Illinois’ drug prevention system helping youth while a heroin and synthetic drug epidemic is sweeping Illinois,” said Sara Moscato Howe, CEO of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association.

Quinn’s newly unveiled fiscal year 2013 budget eliminates $2.6 million or 100% from the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Family and Community Services for prevention which will reduce the number youth being target for drug prevention.

In fiscal year 2008 Illinois spent $7.5 million in state money on youth prevention.

“The days of heroin use being confined to the wrong people in the wrongs are gone. It is a plague of all communities, all incomes and all children,” said Wayne Hunter, Lake County sheriff chief of administration, Daily Herald, January 31, 2012.

In Lake County, heroin deaths increased 130% from 2000 to 2009. In McHenry,  in three years heroin deaths zoomed 150% higher. In Will County, in two years, deaths doubled.

In addition to heroin, synthetic drug use, like “K2”, “Spice” and “Bath Salts”, is an escalating problem among youth, said Howe.

“Illinois had one of the highest call rates to the Poison Control Centers for these synthetic drugs in 2010 and 2011,” said Howe.

“Year after year after year an Illinois governor has tried to completely eliminate successful drug prevention programs to save a little money up front, but  such a move just ignites youth addictions, while a heroin and synthetic drug epidemic is sweeping the Chicago suburbs and down state Illinois,” said Howe.

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by Jud DeLoss on February 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on February 23, 2012

https://ilabh.net/2012/02/23/gov-pat-quinns-illinois-budget-eliminates-drug-prevention-for-34593-illinois-youth/

Illinois Medicaid Spending to Increase 41% in 5 Years, Civic Federation Report Says

(Springfield, IL) – A new report released Monday from the Civic Federation, a Chicago-based nonpartisan policy group that focuses on state spending, predicts Illinois’ Medicaid costs will skyrocket over the next five years.

Laurence Msall, federation president, said lawmakers and governors have spent Illinois into a deep hole by expanding Medicaid, which provides health-care coverage to low-income families.

“What is most frightening is that even after the income tax, the state was not able to pass a budget to fully fund Medicaid,” Msall said, referring to a 67 percent personal income tax increase and a 48 percent corporate income tax increase in January 2011.

But even with that additional revenue, Illinois lawmakers still had to pay more than $1 billion in 2011 Medicaid bills.

The Civic Federation report paints a grim picture for Medicaid spending:

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by Jud DeLoss on January 31, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget, Illinois Medicaid
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on January 31, 2012

https://ilabh.net/2012/01/31/illinois-medicaid-spending-to-increase-41-in-5-years-civic-federation-report-says/

Tax Money Flowing into Illinois Treasury Surges 13% in August

(Springfield, IL) — Taxpayers gave Illinois a $1.2-billion shot of cash in August, or $464 million more than last August.

Personal income tax revenue jumped by 68 percent for last month when compared with the same time in 2010, almost mirroring the personal income tax increase of 67 percent approved in January, according to a report issued by the Legislature’s Commission on Government Accountability and Forecasting, or COGFA, this week.

Overall, the state’s revenue jumped from $1.9 billion in August 2010 to $2.2 billion last month, an increase of 13 percent.

However, focusing on the month-to-month numbers won’t give an accurate picture of the state’s fiscal health, said Jim Muschinske, COGFA’s revenue manager and author of the August revenue report that outlines Illinois’ finances.

“I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years, and I don’t get excited over one month. There is just too much that happens on a month-by-month basis,” Muschinske said.

For example, income tax receipts from July through December, or the first half of fiscal 2012, might show big gains compared to last year. But those increases are only because of the income tax increase, and not because the state’s workforce or economy is doing better, according to the COGFA report.

The state also got a one-time shot of $73 million relating to the selling of a permit for and opening of the state’s 10th riverboat casino this summer in Des Plaines.

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by Jud DeLoss on September 9, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on September 9, 2011

https://ilabh.net/2011/09/09/tax-money-flowing-into-illinois-treasury-surges-13-in-august/

As Illinois Deadbeat Status Persists, Topinka Says “No” to Senator Sullivan Plan to Pay State Bills

(Springfield, IL) — For the upcoming year, Illinois lawmakers are weighing whether to pay bills with borrowed money or not pay businesses and local government money the state owes them.

Democrats are pushing the plan to borrow $6.2 billion in order to pay some of Illinois’ $8.2 billion in past-due bills.

Republicans say lawmakers have to stop borrowing and start cutting spending if Illinois is ever going to pay its bills and live within its means.

Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who actually writes the checks for the state’s bills, said spending money now is not the solution.

“The basic restructuring has not been done; the cuts have not been made. The budget has not been brought back in line, which has to be basically flat,” said Topinka.

Topinka said Illinois is still spending more than it is taking in. She did not offer an amount to be cut from the budget, but she did say the $7 billion in revenue from the largest income tax increase in the state’s history, has been committed.

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by Jud DeLoss on May 27, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on May 27, 2011

https://ilabh.net/2011/05/27/as-illinois-deadbeat-status-persists-topinka-says-no-to-senator-sullivan-plan-to-pay-state-bills/

Illinois Lawmakers Reprioritize Gov. Pat Quinn’s Illinois Human Services Budget

(Springfield, IL) — Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar may have different political views, but Quinn is dealing with a similar, but bigger, challenge than Edgar tackled during his tenure as governor.

Edgar faced a nearly $2 billion deficit in 1991. Quinn assumed office in 2009, inheriting a more than $13 billion deficit. Edgar left office in 1999 with a $1.5 billion surplus, crediting his success to raising the temporary tax which later became permanent, cutting state spending and saying “no” to new programs.

“That took time, and it took discipline,” Edgar said. “The governor, I think, has to provide that leadership. It’s hard for the legislature to do that.”

Quinn’s administration isn’t hoping for a budget surplus, but is expecting fiscal stability following proposed spending reductions and recent personal and corporate income tax increases.

Quinn’s proposed $35.4 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2012 aggressively slashes the overall human services budget by about $412 million, or 11 percent, one of the deepest reductions compared to other areas. For instance, the state’s transportation budget saw a 86 percent reduction, or $67 million, according to Quinn’s proposed agency funding figures.

However, other departments saw state funding increases, including:

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by Jud DeLoss on May 21, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois Budget, Illinois General Assembly
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on May 21, 2011

https://ilabh.net/2011/05/21/illinois-lawmakers-reprioritize-gov-pat-quinns-illinois-human-services-budget/

Dan Rutherford, Judy Baar Topinka Divided on Short-Term Borrowing to Pay Illinois’ Overdue Bills

(Springfield, IL) — Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford and Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka can both agree on a plan to merge their offices, but short-term borrowing is a different thing.

Republicans opposed Gov. Pat Quinn‘s plan to borrow $8.75 billion to help the state pay off its debt of $9 billion to $10 billion. Quinn wants to borrow $2 billion in short-term loans to help pay the state’s backlog of bills.

Any short-term borrowing must win the OK from both financial offices.

Rutherford, a Republican, met privately with Quinn, a Democrat, and his budget office staff. Rutherford said he told the governor he doesn’t approve of a multi-billion dollar borrowing plan, which would require repayment with interest at the end of 14 years.

“I told him I don’t support the $8.7 billion borrowing plan; 14-year payment ballooned at the end,” Rutherford said. “I said ‘I don’t support any of that stuff, but I will work with you on short-term borrowing, which I can either sign-off on that or not.’”

States were provided with about $80 billion from the federal stimulus fund, which provides an enhanced Medicaid match rate to hospitals and nursing homes if states make payments within 30 days. Since March 31, Illinois’ match dropped from 59 percent to 57 percent early this month. By July 1, the match will drop to 50 percent.

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by Jud DeLoss on April 20, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on April 20, 2011

https://ilabh.net/2011/04/20/dan-rutherford-judy-baar-topinka-divided-on-short-term-borrowing-to-pay-illinois-overdue-bills/

Illinois Senate Leaders John Cullerton, Christine Radogno Differ on Illinois Budget Process, Revenue Projections

(Springfield, IL) — Illinois Senate Republicans and Democrats agree that cuts are a must to balance next year’s budget, but they argue over exactly how to do it.

After the Senate on Friday passed several measures to make payments to state pension funds, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said they would have to slash about $1.2 billion from Gov. Pat Quinn’s $35.4 billion budget to balance the checkbook for the next fiscal year.

Cullerton said he wants to see lawmakers in the coming weeks suggest changes to the approximately 40 different pieces of legislation that make up Quinn’s proposed budget, a move Cullerton said would make the process more “open and transparent.”

“We’re not suggesting going behind closed doors, and having a take it or leave it plan that we dump on the desk of the members,” said Cullerton, who compared the process to budgets in recent years.

Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, welcomed the idea of more cuts, but wanted to see fewer political “games” and a more holistic framework.

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by Jud DeLoss on April 18, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on April 18, 2011

https://ilabh.net/2011/04/18/illinois-senate-leaders-john-cullerton-christine-radogno-differ-on-illinois-budget-process-revenue-projections/

Final Illinois Budget Likely to Be Lower than Gov. Pat Quinn’s Request, Says GOP Senator Matt Murphy

(Springfield, IL) — The differences between Illinois’ 2011 budget and the still-to-be crafted 2012 budget are becoming more apparent each day.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate are working on their own versions of a spending plan, complete with revenue projections and line-by-line appropriations. It’s not clear which chamber will set the final total for a state budget, and that may not become clear for a while.

This week, Senate Republicans said they are hoping to work with the Democrats who control the upper chamber in Springfield to figure out how to spend a little more than $34 billion. The House budget figure is just above $33 billion. Gov. Pat Quinn wants to spend $35 billion next year.

Senate GOP budget point man State Sen. Matt Murphy, R-Palatine, said just having a conversation about spending and different numbers is a break from the past.

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by Jud DeLoss on April 11, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Illinois Budget
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Posted by Jud DeLoss on April 11, 2011

https://ilabh.net/2011/04/11/final-illinois-budget-likely-to-be-lower-than-gov-pat-quinns-request-says-gop-senator-matt-murphy/

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