Activists continue pleas against budget cuts
SPRINGFIELD — Like many others, Brandi Brown went to the Capitol in Springfield Wednesday in hopes of getting some state money back.
Brown’s anti-violence program CeaseFire Decatur was virtually eliminated when its $6.25 million budget was cut.
Following the state House vote on Tuesday to restore millions of cuts to the state budget made by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, echoed other rank-and-file lawmakers in decrying the political games that have dominated Springfield this year.
“I’m not quite embarrassed yet,” Jacobs said. “But I’m getting close.”
Jacobs and others spoke to a rallying crowd Wednesday of mostly labor union members. The group chanted “let them vote” in the Capitol rotunda and waved signs saying “override the vetoes.”
But with Senate leaders unwilling to buck Blagojevich so far, the final fate of his $463 million in budget trims remains in limbo.
Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, has committed not to mess with the governor’s budget moves.
When asked again Wednesday if budget veto overrides would ever come for a Senate vote, Jones offered a cryptic response.
“Keep hope alive,” he said
It’s up to Jones whether a vote gets taken, but some senators said they’d override the governor if they had the chance. Blagojevich wants to use the money cut from the budget to expand health care coverage.
“The governor is willing to work with members on programs they’d like to fund — but not at the expense of health care for chronically ill children or cancer screenings and treatment for women,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch.
State Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, argued that Jones should let up because he agreed to the original state budget proposal approved by lawmakers. That was before he decided to side with Blagojevich.
“We should stick to our words,” Burzynski said.
Mike Riopell can be contacted at
(217) 789-0865 or mike.riopell@lee.net.
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