From Chicago Access Living:
On July 25, as part of the 6th Annual Disability Pride Parade, thousands of people will parade up Dearborn Avenue in downtown Chicago to celebrate disability empowerment and the 19th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We want you to be part of the celebration! Community members, disability supporters and all interested parties are invited to gather on the plaza at One South Dearborn (there are benches, there is open space and there is shade) then cheer the parade as it passes the intersection of Dearborn and Madison.
Immediately following the parade, join Post-Parade Celebration at Daley Plaza.
What: 2009 Disability Pride Parade
When: Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Parade starts at 11 a.m. (Plaza – One South Dearborn)
Where: The parade steps off from Plymouth and Van Buren then moves north on Dearborn. Spectators will gather in the plaza at One South Dearborn
For more information, contact Gary Arnold at 312-640-2199 (voice), 312-640-2102 (TTY), garnold@accessliving.org
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Protestors tell Pizza Hut: no justice, no pizza
By John Bachtell
Chicago - “I have spent my whole life – since I was 17 years old – working at Pizza Hut. Instead of respecting my hard work, Pizza Hut has thrown me on the street with nothing,” said Leonidez Contreras, now 33 years old.
Contreras is among over 200 workers in the Chicago area who have been fired by Pizza Hut since February after they were told to re-verify their eligibility for employment allegedly on the basis of “no-match letters” or face termination. The workers, mostly immigrants and Latinos, were given no notice and no opportunity to contest the information.
Their cause was taken up July 10 by picketers at a Pizza Hut in the downtown Loop who shouted, “No justice, no pizza” and passed out informational flyers to pedestrians. The action was one of 30 around the country organized to protest unjust firings and discrimination.
On July 9, Homeland Security secretary Napolitano officially dropped the Bush-Chertoff rules for Social Security No-Match letters. This rule obliged employers of workers who received such letters to fire them if they could not clear up the discrepancy identified in the letter within 90 days.
In 2007 a federal judge banned the Bush Administration from comparing worker identification with error-ridden Social Security records and then to subsequently round up and deport workers and prosecute companies.
Pizza Hut is owned by the self proclaimed biggest fast food restaurant corporation in the world, Yum! Brands. The company also owns KFC, A&W, Long John Silvers and Taco Bell.
“These workers are being fired because they are only suspected of no-match or frankly targeted because they are Latinos,” said Leone Bicchieri, executive director of the Chicago Workers Collaborative, the initiator of the protests. “Don’t scapegoat immigrants – they didn’t cause this financial crisis. They worked hard to make Yum! Brands very wealthy and now they and their families are suffering.”
Some suspect the real motive for the firings may lie in the deepening economic crisis and its impact on the fast food industry. High unemployment has meant declining sales. Yum Brands may see an opportunity to shed its workforce of higher paid senior workers and also not have to pay unemployment compensation or vacation pay.
And in the case of Latino workers employed by Taco Bell in the Madison, Wisconsin area, they charged the company with discrimination, including prohibition against speaking Spanish at work, lower wages for Latino workers, disparate treatment and assignments for Latinos and the use of epithets and derogatory language.
However, Napolitano also announced the DHS still plans to go ahead and require federal contractors to use the department’s E-Verify system, which screens workers by checking their status against I-9 forms they must fill out for each worker. But labor and immigrant rights advocates say the E-Verify system has many of the same flaws as the Social Security no-match system.
With E-Verify, "they're using databases that are also riddled with errors and will wind up costing a lot of authorized workers their jobs," said attorney Nora Preciado of the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles.
In addition DHS announced plans to begin auditing the I-9 forms of 652 companies. The same kind of audit was carried out at American Apparel, the Los Angeles garment manufacturer resulting in the firing of over 1,800 workers.
“This has the same net effect as the work place raids under the Bush administration,” said Tim Bell of the Chicago Workers Collaborative. “Thousands of workers will loose their livelihoods.” Bicchieri also expressed concern that Yum Brands and other corporations will now have the legal cover to fire immigrant workers.
In early June more than 200 organizations launched a national coalition to push for comprehensive immigration reform. Reform Immigration for America, includes the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, the National Council of La Raza, the NAACP, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and the Asian American Justice Center. They say the new political climate and the progressive nature of the Obama administration favors a fair and just immigration reform that doesn’t harm workers nor pits them against each other.
“Our nation’s broken immigration system isn’t working for anybody, said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, “not for immigrant workers who are routinely exploited by companies and not for U.S.-born workers whose living standards are being undermined by the creation of a new “underclass.” Reform of our current system is an integral part of our efforts to eliminate enormous social and economic inequalities here and around the world.”
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Walking to Washington DC for healthcare reform
By Pepe Lozano
In an effort to expose the failures of the current health care system, Dr. Ogan Gurel, 45, is trekking nearly 700 miles on foot from Chicago to Washington D.C. in order to bring to the attention of lawmakers the real hardships and suffering of people he meets on the way, when it comes to the lack of health care.
Gurel is appalled at how certain special interests and corporations have been dominating the debate, spending millions on lobbying, and working to maintain their own “piece of the pie” with little consideration for the people – those truly affected broadly by healthcare. Gurel says he’s fed up with recent statements made by insurance company executives, pharmaceutical interests, as well as the American Medical Association, the American Hospital association, and other groups who are trying to manipulate and distort the heated health care debate now taking place in Congress.
The World spoke with Dr. Gurel on the phone July 8 as he was walking along the Lincoln Highway just East of Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
“Nearly 50 million Americans lack health care insurance and many more are grossly underinsured,” said Gurel. “Every American deserves health care and as a matter of public health, economic security, and simple human dignity, health care is a common good,” he added. “As a nation, health care for all makes us greater and as individuals it allows us to reach our full potential.”
Gurel said health care is about people, not lobbyists or special interests. Gurel notes his Walk for Healthcare does not uphold any particular policy position or piece of legislation yet he believes the principles of universality and affordability represent a framework for moving the health care debate forward. “The walk is about the ‘voice of the people,’” he said.
Choice is also important, Gurel explained. But the choices for millions should not entail choosing between foregoing healthcare, bankruptcy or worse, he said. “This is not choice, it is injustice.”
“Health care reform is the biggest legislative issue today since the Civil Rights era,” said Gurel. Reforming the system appeals to both sides of the political aisle, he added. “Invariably from the most conservative to the most liberal this issue affects people from both spectrums.”
Gurel was born in Turkey and came the U.S. at age two with his parents. He lived in New York most of his life and has been living in Chicago with his wife and stepdaughter since 2001. Throughout his career Gurel has worked as a surgeon and was a CEO of a medical device company. Currently he is a self-employed health consultant. Gurel said he is currently uninsured.
“I have seen many sides of the health care industry and people are naturally more open to talking to a physician,” he said. “It’s important that physicians, patients and really everyone play a role at the center of this struggle.”
So far Gurel has been talking to people at hotels, coffee houses, and truck stops as well as along the road at houses he stops at for water. Stories he has gathered include families going into bankruptcy due to the economic crisis as well as some (U.S. citizens) who have traveled to India for major surgeries where costs are more affordable. Others told him how they have been denied insurance.
“People get differing care and as a result are forced to go to emergency rooms as their only option for treatment,” said Gurel.
Gurel’s hike follows the Lincoln Highway, traveling through cities and towns across Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Walking along the Lincoln Highway is an appropriate metaphor for health care since the route began as a patchwork of private roads that was federalized into a cross-country highway to benefit the common good, he says. “Health care, likewise is a common good and it ensures our economic strength as well,” said Gurel.
Gurel walks about 25 miles per day, with rests in between, and he stays at hotels each night. Some hotel owners who support Gurel’s cause have allowed him to stay overnight for free. He hopes to arrive in Washington July 26 after collecting hundreds of personal stories.
It’s just not right that special and corporate interests are spending millions on lobbying fees that advocate no change in the system, said Gurel. “They’re only concerned about their piece of the pie and health care reform is about people’s needs not monetary reasons.”
Gurel continued, “This walk, I hope will contribute to a more appropriate perspective about real people’s lives. I intend to send a strong message to lawmakers and tell people’s personal accounts so that they can change things, perhaps radically.”
Gurel added, “By the end of the walk, the many stories we have gathered, shared, and documented will provide a compelling narrative which absolutely cannot be ignored.”
Elected officials would do the right thing if they just listened to people’s stories and not corporate interests, notes Gurel. Fighting for health care reform is a win-win situation, everyone wants it, says Gurel. “It doesn’t need to be a battle.”
Gurel gives first hand accounts throughout the day via Twitter (@Walk4Healthcare), Facebook and on his blog at www.Walk4healthcare.blogspot.com. Gurel said he already has 100 followers on Twitter and over 500 friends on his Facebook group. Those wishing to support or make contributions to cover lodging, meals or host Gurel in their home should email Kerem Arig (logistics coordinator for the walk) at kerem@walk4healthcare.org. Donations can also be made via Pay Pal to donate@walkf4healthcare.org.
plozano @pww.org
In an effort to expose the failures of the current health care system, Dr. Ogan Gurel, 45, is trekking nearly 700 miles on foot from Chicago to Washington D.C. in order to bring to the attention of lawmakers the real hardships and suffering of people he meets on the way, when it comes to the lack of health care.
Gurel is appalled at how certain special interests and corporations have been dominating the debate, spending millions on lobbying, and working to maintain their own “piece of the pie” with little consideration for the people – those truly affected broadly by healthcare. Gurel says he’s fed up with recent statements made by insurance company executives, pharmaceutical interests, as well as the American Medical Association, the American Hospital association, and other groups who are trying to manipulate and distort the heated health care debate now taking place in Congress.
The World spoke with Dr. Gurel on the phone July 8 as he was walking along the Lincoln Highway just East of Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
“Nearly 50 million Americans lack health care insurance and many more are grossly underinsured,” said Gurel. “Every American deserves health care and as a matter of public health, economic security, and simple human dignity, health care is a common good,” he added. “As a nation, health care for all makes us greater and as individuals it allows us to reach our full potential.”
Gurel said health care is about people, not lobbyists or special interests. Gurel notes his Walk for Healthcare does not uphold any particular policy position or piece of legislation yet he believes the principles of universality and affordability represent a framework for moving the health care debate forward. “The walk is about the ‘voice of the people,’” he said.
Choice is also important, Gurel explained. But the choices for millions should not entail choosing between foregoing healthcare, bankruptcy or worse, he said. “This is not choice, it is injustice.”
“Health care reform is the biggest legislative issue today since the Civil Rights era,” said Gurel. Reforming the system appeals to both sides of the political aisle, he added. “Invariably from the most conservative to the most liberal this issue affects people from both spectrums.”
Gurel was born in Turkey and came the U.S. at age two with his parents. He lived in New York most of his life and has been living in Chicago with his wife and stepdaughter since 2001. Throughout his career Gurel has worked as a surgeon and was a CEO of a medical device company. Currently he is a self-employed health consultant. Gurel said he is currently uninsured.
“I have seen many sides of the health care industry and people are naturally more open to talking to a physician,” he said. “It’s important that physicians, patients and really everyone play a role at the center of this struggle.”
So far Gurel has been talking to people at hotels, coffee houses, and truck stops as well as along the road at houses he stops at for water. Stories he has gathered include families going into bankruptcy due to the economic crisis as well as some (U.S. citizens) who have traveled to India for major surgeries where costs are more affordable. Others told him how they have been denied insurance.
“People get differing care and as a result are forced to go to emergency rooms as their only option for treatment,” said Gurel.
Gurel’s hike follows the Lincoln Highway, traveling through cities and towns across Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Walking along the Lincoln Highway is an appropriate metaphor for health care since the route began as a patchwork of private roads that was federalized into a cross-country highway to benefit the common good, he says. “Health care, likewise is a common good and it ensures our economic strength as well,” said Gurel.
Gurel walks about 25 miles per day, with rests in between, and he stays at hotels each night. Some hotel owners who support Gurel’s cause have allowed him to stay overnight for free. He hopes to arrive in Washington July 26 after collecting hundreds of personal stories.
It’s just not right that special and corporate interests are spending millions on lobbying fees that advocate no change in the system, said Gurel. “They’re only concerned about their piece of the pie and health care reform is about people’s needs not monetary reasons.”
Gurel continued, “This walk, I hope will contribute to a more appropriate perspective about real people’s lives. I intend to send a strong message to lawmakers and tell people’s personal accounts so that they can change things, perhaps radically.”
Gurel added, “By the end of the walk, the many stories we have gathered, shared, and documented will provide a compelling narrative which absolutely cannot be ignored.”
Elected officials would do the right thing if they just listened to people’s stories and not corporate interests, notes Gurel. Fighting for health care reform is a win-win situation, everyone wants it, says Gurel. “It doesn’t need to be a battle.”
Gurel gives first hand accounts throughout the day via Twitter (@Walk4Healthcare), Facebook and on his blog at www.Walk4healthcare.blogspot.com. Gurel said he already has 100 followers on Twitter and over 500 friends on his Facebook group. Those wishing to support or make contributions to cover lodging, meals or host Gurel in their home should email Kerem Arig (logistics coordinator for the walk) at kerem@walk4healthcare.org. Donations can also be made via Pay Pal to donate@walkf4healthcare.org.
plozano @pww.org
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Illinois budget crisis fuels demand for progressive income tax
News Analysis
By John Bachtell
Chicago – As Illinois entered it’s 2nd week without a budget, Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed the state operating budget passed by the state legislature, sending the budget process into further chaos. The Democratic governor and Democratic controlled state legislature are wrestling with a $7 to $9.2 billion deficit (depending on whose counting) if no new revenues are forthcoming.
Quinn also began imposing cuts by announcing layoffs of 2,600 state workers and asked for an additional 12 unpaid days for the other 56,000 state workers. He threatened to layoff another 2500 workers if this wasn’t agreed to. Quinn outlined $1 billion in cuts to social service programs he want the state legislature to consider that will impact tens of thousands of people. Cuts will be heaviest in the department of Human Services and Corrections.
The Illinois budget crisis is mirrored across the country where at least 9 other states are without budgets in place as the new fiscal year begins. The crisis has been made worse since the US Congress stripped substantial aid to the states out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the first economic stimulus package. Calls are growing for a second stimulus that would include massive jobs creation and aid to the cash strapped states.
Calls for a tax increase as the only way to solve the budget crisis have not yet resonated widely enough because the progressive tax message has been muddled. Meanwhile, a labor leader said a bill passed by the State Senate would serve as a model for raising taxes fairly to overcome the budget crisis.
AFSCME Council 31 spokesperson Anders Lindall said, “There is a solution. It happens to be the best solution, the right solution, and the one with the most political support. House Bill 174, sponsored by Sen. James Meeks, has passed the Senate; it has passed a House committee. The governor has previously indicated support for it. It would raise enough revenue to prevent these kind of cuts.”
According to William McNary, co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois, HB174 should "serve as a blueprint to avert budget disaster."
Both chambers of the state legislature passed a budget, but Quinn previously vetoed the social service funding portion of it because it didn’t provide enough financing. Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to return to Springfield for a special session until July 14 when the next paychecks of state employees must be issued.
Conservative Republicans and business interests have been pressuring Quinn to cut state funding, including state pensions, in order to gain their support. Republicans have enhanced power since a super majority is now needed to pass any budget. Quinn has made concessions including lowering the tax increase proposal and calling for budget cuts.
Calls for budget cuts ignore the growing demand for public services especially in the current economic crisis and that funding over the years has not kept pace with inflation.
Many Democrats are fearful of pushing any kind of tax increase (whether progressive or not) with legislative elections looming next year. HB 174 passed the Senate and a House committee but has been blocked from coming before the full House by Speaker Michael Madigan.
Demonstrations have taken place across the state over the last few weeks against the cuts and for a progressive tax increase to solve the budget crisis. Supporters of HB 174 point out it raises approximately $7 billion in new revenues while modernizing the state’s tax system and making it fairer, by increasing the corporate income tax rate from 4.8% to 5% and personal income tax fro m 3 to 5%.
One way to make a more progressive tax structure aside from amending the state constitution is to sharply increase the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). HR 174 triples the EITC, cutting taxes to low income, working families and doubles the state income tax credit Illinois homeowners receive for property taxes paid on their principal residence.
HB 174 also takes a step in overcoming inequality in the funding of school districts across the state.
It’s going to take a great deal more political pressure to get HB 174 passed in the House and take an important step toward a more progressive tax structure in Illinois.
By John Bachtell
Chicago – As Illinois entered it’s 2nd week without a budget, Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed the state operating budget passed by the state legislature, sending the budget process into further chaos. The Democratic governor and Democratic controlled state legislature are wrestling with a $7 to $9.2 billion deficit (depending on whose counting) if no new revenues are forthcoming.
Quinn also began imposing cuts by announcing layoffs of 2,600 state workers and asked for an additional 12 unpaid days for the other 56,000 state workers. He threatened to layoff another 2500 workers if this wasn’t agreed to. Quinn outlined $1 billion in cuts to social service programs he want the state legislature to consider that will impact tens of thousands of people. Cuts will be heaviest in the department of Human Services and Corrections.
The Illinois budget crisis is mirrored across the country where at least 9 other states are without budgets in place as the new fiscal year begins. The crisis has been made worse since the US Congress stripped substantial aid to the states out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the first economic stimulus package. Calls are growing for a second stimulus that would include massive jobs creation and aid to the cash strapped states.
Calls for a tax increase as the only way to solve the budget crisis have not yet resonated widely enough because the progressive tax message has been muddled. Meanwhile, a labor leader said a bill passed by the State Senate would serve as a model for raising taxes fairly to overcome the budget crisis.
AFSCME Council 31 spokesperson Anders Lindall said, “There is a solution. It happens to be the best solution, the right solution, and the one with the most political support. House Bill 174, sponsored by Sen. James Meeks, has passed the Senate; it has passed a House committee. The governor has previously indicated support for it. It would raise enough revenue to prevent these kind of cuts.”
According to William McNary, co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois, HB174 should "serve as a blueprint to avert budget disaster."
Both chambers of the state legislature passed a budget, but Quinn previously vetoed the social service funding portion of it because it didn’t provide enough financing. Lawmakers aren’t scheduled to return to Springfield for a special session until July 14 when the next paychecks of state employees must be issued.
Conservative Republicans and business interests have been pressuring Quinn to cut state funding, including state pensions, in order to gain their support. Republicans have enhanced power since a super majority is now needed to pass any budget. Quinn has made concessions including lowering the tax increase proposal and calling for budget cuts.
Calls for budget cuts ignore the growing demand for public services especially in the current economic crisis and that funding over the years has not kept pace with inflation.
Many Democrats are fearful of pushing any kind of tax increase (whether progressive or not) with legislative elections looming next year. HB 174 passed the Senate and a House committee but has been blocked from coming before the full House by Speaker Michael Madigan.
Demonstrations have taken place across the state over the last few weeks against the cuts and for a progressive tax increase to solve the budget crisis. Supporters of HB 174 point out it raises approximately $7 billion in new revenues while modernizing the state’s tax system and making it fairer, by increasing the corporate income tax rate from 4.8% to 5% and personal income tax fro m 3 to 5%.
One way to make a more progressive tax structure aside from amending the state constitution is to sharply increase the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). HR 174 triples the EITC, cutting taxes to low income, working families and doubles the state income tax credit Illinois homeowners receive for property taxes paid on their principal residence.
HB 174 also takes a step in overcoming inequality in the funding of school districts across the state.
It’s going to take a great deal more political pressure to get HB 174 passed in the House and take an important step toward a more progressive tax structure in Illinois.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Coalition Supports Quinn’s Veto
From Housing Action Illinois:
No vacation for lawmakers until they pass 12-month budget that is morally and fiscally responsible, group says
Springfield, IL—A coalition of 50 organizations representing millions of Illinoisans applauded Governor Quinn today for demanding that lawmakers fulfill their shared responsibility to craft a 12-month budget that fully funds vital community-based programs throughout the state.
The coalition warns that a Democratic “Doomsday Lite” proposal to cut funding by 30% for programs ranging from domestic violence and child abuse prevention to care for seniors and people with disabilities would be devastating. A proposal floated by Republicans to pass a temporary budget based on FY ’08 spending would not only lead to harmful cuts in services, but would do nothing to alleviate the anxieties of caregivers or the families they serve.
The coalition is urging all 177 lawmakers and Governor Quinn to remain in Springfield for as long as it takes to reach a bipartisan agreement on a full, 12-month budget that cuts nonessential services and revenue to close the budget gap.
“The families of the people we serve aren’t making vacation plans, they’re cancelling them, and trying to figure out what they’re going to do about child care, about health care, and who is going to have to quit their job to take care of an aging parent or disabled family member that the state is poised to dump out on the street,” said the Reverend Dr. Denver Bitner, head of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI). “Lawmakers shouldn’t be making any vacation plans either, until they pass a budget that is not only fiscally balanced, but also morally balanced.”
The coalition says they have seen signs of progress. Under mounting pressure in recent weeks, Democrats and Republicans have publicly acknowledged that the state has a moral responsibility to fully fund community-based programs, and they have recognized that the proposed cuts are creating anxiety for families that are directly impacted. Privately, rank-and file lawmakers from both parties have admitted that a tax increase will be needed as part of the budget solution.
But coalition members say that Democratic leaders are pushing a “Doomsday Lite” budget that would still have devastating consequences, including:
• 15,600 seniors will lose community care programs that enable them to remain in their homes and out of nursing homes, and another 35,000 seniors will see those services reduced;
• 88,585 children will lose day care services, threatening their parents’ ability to work;
• 12,900 women will lose life-saving breast cancer screenings, and 45,000 men will lose prostate cancer screening and prevention services;
• 12,000 teens and adults will lose treatment for drug and alcohol addiction;
• 60,000 pre-school children will lose their early childhood education;
• 11,000 cases of elder abuse will go uninvestigated;
• Half of the state’s child abuse investigators will be eliminated, raising caseloads to 20 to 1;
• Nearly 14,000 rape and child sex abuse victims will be denied crisis services.
The coalition also says a plan floated by Republican leaders to delay passage of a 12-month budget for 30 to 60 days would only prolong anxieties for families impacted by the cuts and for the 100,000 caregivers across the state that stand to lose their jobs. The coalition predicts that without an agreement in place between lawmakers from both parties and the governor on both cuts and new revenue, lawmakers aren’t likely to meet a new deadline, and would only insist on another extension. The coalition also points out that even the possibility of cuts has forced many local service providers to lay-off employees and close programs already. Those cutbacks would still continue even with a temporary spending plan, and the uncertainty would create greater instability in the state’s infrastructure of community-based service providers.
“Governor Edgar warned that it would be irresponsible of our state to implement a temporary budget, and he’s absolutely right,” said Nancy Ronquillo, head of Children’s Home + Aid, one of the state’s largest and oldest providers of care for abused and neglected children. “We’ve been forced to issue notices of potential lay-offs to over 700 employees throughout Illinois. We have nearly 800 abused and neglected children that we have to worry about and workers who deserve 30 days notice before they are laid off. No agency can go through that every month without creating total chaos.”
“These cuts aren’t just morally irresponsible, they are fiscally irresponsible, because every dollar we cut from preventative programs ends up costing taxpayers $6 to $8 down the road,” warns budget expert Ralph Martire, head of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. “When we turn our back on abused children, people with mental illness, our seniors and disabled, they don’t just magically disappear. They turn up again in our special education classes, prisons, emergency rooms and nursing homes, but at much greater cost to the taxpayer.”
The coalition says they will continue to press lawmakers from both parties to live up to their shared responsibility to invest in vital programs that promote the common good. More public protests are being planned following a rally two weeks ago that drew 5,000 protesters to the State Capitol and candlelight vigils held this week across Illinois. Opponents of the cuts are also being urged to call toll free at 888-616-3322 to speak to their lawmakers in support of a responsible budget.
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Housing Action Illinois, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and the Supportive Housing Providers Association are among the coalition's member organizations.
No vacation for lawmakers until they pass 12-month budget that is morally and fiscally responsible, group says
Springfield, IL—A coalition of 50 organizations representing millions of Illinoisans applauded Governor Quinn today for demanding that lawmakers fulfill their shared responsibility to craft a 12-month budget that fully funds vital community-based programs throughout the state.
The coalition warns that a Democratic “Doomsday Lite” proposal to cut funding by 30% for programs ranging from domestic violence and child abuse prevention to care for seniors and people with disabilities would be devastating. A proposal floated by Republicans to pass a temporary budget based on FY ’08 spending would not only lead to harmful cuts in services, but would do nothing to alleviate the anxieties of caregivers or the families they serve.
The coalition is urging all 177 lawmakers and Governor Quinn to remain in Springfield for as long as it takes to reach a bipartisan agreement on a full, 12-month budget that cuts nonessential services and revenue to close the budget gap.
“The families of the people we serve aren’t making vacation plans, they’re cancelling them, and trying to figure out what they’re going to do about child care, about health care, and who is going to have to quit their job to take care of an aging parent or disabled family member that the state is poised to dump out on the street,” said the Reverend Dr. Denver Bitner, head of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI). “Lawmakers shouldn’t be making any vacation plans either, until they pass a budget that is not only fiscally balanced, but also morally balanced.”
The coalition says they have seen signs of progress. Under mounting pressure in recent weeks, Democrats and Republicans have publicly acknowledged that the state has a moral responsibility to fully fund community-based programs, and they have recognized that the proposed cuts are creating anxiety for families that are directly impacted. Privately, rank-and file lawmakers from both parties have admitted that a tax increase will be needed as part of the budget solution.
But coalition members say that Democratic leaders are pushing a “Doomsday Lite” budget that would still have devastating consequences, including:
• 15,600 seniors will lose community care programs that enable them to remain in their homes and out of nursing homes, and another 35,000 seniors will see those services reduced;
• 88,585 children will lose day care services, threatening their parents’ ability to work;
• 12,900 women will lose life-saving breast cancer screenings, and 45,000 men will lose prostate cancer screening and prevention services;
• 12,000 teens and adults will lose treatment for drug and alcohol addiction;
• 60,000 pre-school children will lose their early childhood education;
• 11,000 cases of elder abuse will go uninvestigated;
• Half of the state’s child abuse investigators will be eliminated, raising caseloads to 20 to 1;
• Nearly 14,000 rape and child sex abuse victims will be denied crisis services.
The coalition also says a plan floated by Republican leaders to delay passage of a 12-month budget for 30 to 60 days would only prolong anxieties for families impacted by the cuts and for the 100,000 caregivers across the state that stand to lose their jobs. The coalition predicts that without an agreement in place between lawmakers from both parties and the governor on both cuts and new revenue, lawmakers aren’t likely to meet a new deadline, and would only insist on another extension. The coalition also points out that even the possibility of cuts has forced many local service providers to lay-off employees and close programs already. Those cutbacks would still continue even with a temporary spending plan, and the uncertainty would create greater instability in the state’s infrastructure of community-based service providers.
“Governor Edgar warned that it would be irresponsible of our state to implement a temporary budget, and he’s absolutely right,” said Nancy Ronquillo, head of Children’s Home + Aid, one of the state’s largest and oldest providers of care for abused and neglected children. “We’ve been forced to issue notices of potential lay-offs to over 700 employees throughout Illinois. We have nearly 800 abused and neglected children that we have to worry about and workers who deserve 30 days notice before they are laid off. No agency can go through that every month without creating total chaos.”
“These cuts aren’t just morally irresponsible, they are fiscally irresponsible, because every dollar we cut from preventative programs ends up costing taxpayers $6 to $8 down the road,” warns budget expert Ralph Martire, head of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. “When we turn our back on abused children, people with mental illness, our seniors and disabled, they don’t just magically disappear. They turn up again in our special education classes, prisons, emergency rooms and nursing homes, but at much greater cost to the taxpayer.”
The coalition says they will continue to press lawmakers from both parties to live up to their shared responsibility to invest in vital programs that promote the common good. More public protests are being planned following a rally two weeks ago that drew 5,000 protesters to the State Capitol and candlelight vigils held this week across Illinois. Opponents of the cuts are also being urged to call toll free at 888-616-3322 to speak to their lawmakers in support of a responsible budget.
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Housing Action Illinois, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and the Supportive Housing Providers Association are among the coalition's member organizations.
Walk 4 Healthcare -> Healthcare 4 All
Chicagoan Ogan Gurel is walking to Washington DC to dramatize the need for health care reform. The route and stops are listed below. You can follow the walk on Facebook and Twitter as well as support the effort:
Nearly 50 million Americans lack health insurance; many more are grossly uninsured. Every American deserves healthcare and as a matter of public health, economic security, and simple human dignity, healthcare is a common good. As a nation, healthcare for all makes us greater; as individuals it allows us each to reach our full potential.
Healthcare industry lobbyists have been sharpening their knives. The debate now heating up is disturbingly shot through with arguments out of self-interest. Healthcare is about people, not special interests. The Walk for Healthcare aims to bear witness to the very real stories of hardship and inequity that persist in our current healthcare system, however great promise it holds. What ultimately should count is the people's voice, unfortunately increasingly muzzled by a stage dominated by back-door negotiations.
I will be walking from Chicago to Washington DC, meeting with people and sharing their stories (via Twitter, this FB group, and the media). Join me, tell your stories, support the effort ... above all, make your opinion known.
Information about making a donation to help make this possible can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=109580449872
Post your thoughts and ideas here or email info@walk4healthcare.org
While the Walk does not aim to uphold any particular policy position or piece of legislation, the principles of universality and affordability represent a framework for moving forward. Choice is also important but the choices for millions should not entail choosing between foregoing healthcare, bankruptcy or worse. This is not choice, it is injustice.
Thank you for supporting the Walk for Healthcare.
6/27 Chicago (Leave Daley Plaza at 8am)
6/28 Gary, Indiana
6/29 Valparaiso, Indiana
6/30 Plymouth, Indiana
7/1 Warsaw, Indiana
7/2 Columbia City, Indiana
7/3 Ft. Wayne, Indiana
7/4 Cairo, Ohio
7/8 Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus, Ohio
7/9 Mansfield, Ohio
7/10 Wooster, Ohio
7/12 Canton, Ohio
7/13 Minerva, Ohio
7/14 Lisbon, Ohio
7/15 Chester, West Virginia
7/16 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7/17 Irwin/Grapeville/Greensburg, Pennsylvania
7/18 Latrobe, Pennsylvania
7/20 Bedford, Pennsylvania
7/23 Hagerstown, Maryland
7/24 Frederick, Maryland
7/25 Germantown/Gaithersburg & Rockville Maryland
7/26 Bethesda, Maryland & Washington DC
Contact Info
Email:
Website:
http://walk4healthcare.org
Office:
Along the Lincoln Highway (US Rt 30)
Nearly 50 million Americans lack health insurance; many more are grossly uninsured. Every American deserves healthcare and as a matter of public health, economic security, and simple human dignity, healthcare is a common good. As a nation, healthcare for all makes us greater; as individuals it allows us each to reach our full potential.
Healthcare industry lobbyists have been sharpening their knives. The debate now heating up is disturbingly shot through with arguments out of self-interest. Healthcare is about people, not special interests. The Walk for Healthcare aims to bear witness to the very real stories of hardship and inequity that persist in our current healthcare system, however great promise it holds. What ultimately should count is the people's voice, unfortunately increasingly muzzled by a stage dominated by back-door negotiations.
I will be walking from Chicago to Washington DC, meeting with people and sharing their stories (via Twitter, this FB group, and the media). Join me, tell your stories, support the effort ... above all, make your opinion known.
Information about making a donation to help make this possible can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=109580449872
Post your thoughts and ideas here or email info@walk4healthcare.org
While the Walk does not aim to uphold any particular policy position or piece of legislation, the principles of universality and affordability represent a framework for moving forward. Choice is also important but the choices for millions should not entail choosing between foregoing healthcare, bankruptcy or worse. This is not choice, it is injustice.
Thank you for supporting the Walk for Healthcare.
6/27 Chicago (Leave Daley Plaza at 8am)
6/28 Gary, Indiana
6/29 Valparaiso, Indiana
6/30 Plymouth, Indiana
7/1 Warsaw, Indiana
7/2 Columbia City, Indiana
7/3 Ft. Wayne, Indiana
7/4 Cairo, Ohio
7/8 Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus, Ohio
7/9 Mansfield, Ohio
7/10 Wooster, Ohio
7/12 Canton, Ohio
7/13 Minerva, Ohio
7/14 Lisbon, Ohio
7/15 Chester, West Virginia
7/16 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7/17 Irwin/Grapeville/Greensburg, Pennsylvania
7/18 Latrobe, Pennsylvania
7/20 Bedford, Pennsylvania
7/23 Hagerstown, Maryland
7/24 Frederick, Maryland
7/25 Germantown/Gaithersburg & Rockville Maryland
7/26 Bethesda, Maryland & Washington DC
Contact Info
Email:
Website:
http://walk4healthcare.org
Office:
Along the Lincoln Highway (US Rt 30)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Create living wage jobs not Walmart poverty wage jobs
Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins is at it again. He's leading the charge to get the City Council to allow a 2nd Walmart store in the city - this time a super-center.
You'll remember the last big fight with Walmart resulted in the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance, requiring the big box retailers like Walmart to pay a living wage, not a poverty wage, if they wanted to do business in the city. Mayor Daley vetoed the measure which angered organized labor and its allies. Daley ended up taking a licking in the 2007 municipal elections when many of the alderman who supported the veto were defeated by labor candidates.
Brookins invokes the need for jobs in his argument for Walmart. We totally agree - we do need jobs, badly. All across the city and especially in the African American and Latino communities and especially among youth.
Brookins says a low paying job is better than no job. Well, that's where we part company. The problem is the Walmart poverty paying jobs are the cutting edge forcing all wages down, down, down for all and forcing the public to fund social services for Walmart workers that a living wage could pay for (ie food stamps, etc).
Instead of pushing for poverty wage jobs, we urge Alderman Brookins to join the fight for a federally funded massive public works jobs program (like the WPA during the Great Depression) to rebuild Chicago with affordable housing, mass transit, new parks and recreation centers, new schools, cleaning up the pollution sites, and put our musicians and artists to work creating public art, etc.
As we all know, there is plenty to do in this city to hire tens of thousands of unemployed workers and keep them employed for years to come.
It's clear the first jobs creating stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not going to create near enough jobs to put a dent in the unemployment rate. And with most economists projecting an "L" shaped economic crisis and a "jobless" recovery, the government is going to have to be the main creator of new jobs by the millions.
A good place to start is a piece authored by the Chicago Political Economy Group entitled "A Permanent Jobs Program for the US: Economic Restructuring to Meet Human Needs" found at: http://www.chicagodsa.org/jobs.pdf
Alderman Brookins - forget Walmart and poverty wages and demand public works and living wages!
You'll remember the last big fight with Walmart resulted in the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance, requiring the big box retailers like Walmart to pay a living wage, not a poverty wage, if they wanted to do business in the city. Mayor Daley vetoed the measure which angered organized labor and its allies. Daley ended up taking a licking in the 2007 municipal elections when many of the alderman who supported the veto were defeated by labor candidates.
Brookins invokes the need for jobs in his argument for Walmart. We totally agree - we do need jobs, badly. All across the city and especially in the African American and Latino communities and especially among youth.
Brookins says a low paying job is better than no job. Well, that's where we part company. The problem is the Walmart poverty paying jobs are the cutting edge forcing all wages down, down, down for all and forcing the public to fund social services for Walmart workers that a living wage could pay for (ie food stamps, etc).
Instead of pushing for poverty wage jobs, we urge Alderman Brookins to join the fight for a federally funded massive public works jobs program (like the WPA during the Great Depression) to rebuild Chicago with affordable housing, mass transit, new parks and recreation centers, new schools, cleaning up the pollution sites, and put our musicians and artists to work creating public art, etc.
As we all know, there is plenty to do in this city to hire tens of thousands of unemployed workers and keep them employed for years to come.
It's clear the first jobs creating stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not going to create near enough jobs to put a dent in the unemployment rate. And with most economists projecting an "L" shaped economic crisis and a "jobless" recovery, the government is going to have to be the main creator of new jobs by the millions.
A good place to start is a piece authored by the Chicago Political Economy Group entitled "A Permanent Jobs Program for the US: Economic Restructuring to Meet Human Needs" found at: http://www.chicagodsa.org/jobs.pdf
Alderman Brookins - forget Walmart and poverty wages and demand public works and living wages!
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