Governor

As was reported on August 23, 2007, the Governor finally issued a line item and reduction veto message yesterday afternoon for the FY 2008 budget bill, HB 3866. He threatened to veto by Friday, August 17, but his action was delayed until August 23. The Governor’s unilateral vetoes have cut many of the increases for community services that we worked so hard to see included in the budget.

Last week, the Governor said he would cut “pork” and other “non-essential” spending from the budget that passed both the House and Senate. The Governor’s veto yesterday was purely political, aimed directly at Speaker Madigan to attempt to bring him back to the table to negotiate a budget that includes healthcare expansion and likely a capital program. We believe the Governor is using organizations that represent people and issues affected by his vetoes to put pressure on Speaker Madigan. For the Governor to force our involvement by vetoing services important to us, he has done the unthinkable and directly implied that community services are not essential services.

You may be wondering what happens to the rest of the budget that was not vetoed. The undisputed (not vetoed) portions of the budget go into effect immediately. The portions that the Governor took action to line item or reduction veto now must return to the House, the originating chamber, which has 15 days to take action. We have heard the House plans to return on September 4 to publicly discuss the cuts and take a vote to override the Governor’s veto. After the House takes action, the Senate will have 15 days to take action or not. Senate President Jones has said he will not call the budget for a vote to override the Governor’s vetoes. However, he is under immense pressure from his members to take such a vote, so we will see what happens. Both the House and Senate must take the same action on the budget or the override of the veto does not count and the budget would go into effect with the Governor’s vetoes.

Overall, the Governor cut a total of $463 million in spending: $15.8 million reduced from constitutional office budgets for personnel and other grants, $141.3 million reduced from legislative add-ons, and $306 million reduced in other agency spending. The Senate Democratic and House Republican “pork” projects are included in the budget along with projects for members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) because the Governor needs their support to administratively pursue expansion of healthcare. Also not cut were an additional 3.5% salary increase for legislators and constitutional officers. However, most of the projects for the House Democrats and Senate Republicans were removed. Also receiving cuts were the Comptroller and Attorney General’s offices who have been critics of the Governor. The Governor also reduced funding for the Illinois Arts Council, which Speaker Madigan’s wife, Shirley, is the chairperson of the council.

We have completed a more in-depth analysis of the effect of the Governor’s vetoes on community services. You can see the devastation for yourself by looking over the graph below. The budget battle is not over and we will not stop our advocacy efforts until we see these cuts restored, but the process could take a long time depending on how legislative matters progress after Labor Day. We still expect action on mass transit, a capital program (which requires additional revenue such as gaming), and the FY 2008 budget.

If you have questions about the process or the budget, please call us at 217-753-1190.

FY 2008 Budget and Governor’s Veto Comparison (P.A. 95-0348)
Line	Amount	Gov's Line Item/Reduction Veto	Reduced	Final Amount
Illinois Facilities Fund for low interest loans to MH, DD, and ASA providers	$3,500,000	Item Veto	-$3,500,000	$0
Community DD and MH Expansion from Hospital Assessment
Home Based Support Services program for Children	$3,000,000	No veto		$3,000,000
Home Based Support Services program for Adults	$9,000,000	No veto		$9,000,000
DD CILA Placements	$6,000,000	No veto		$6,000,000
DD Community Mobile Crisis teams	$2,000,000	No veto		$2,000,000
DD Crisis Assessment Teams (may be costs associated with new hires)	$2,200,000	No veto		$2,200,000
Diversion, transition, and aftercare from institutional settings for MI	$7,000,000	No veto		$7,000,000
Children's Mental Health Partnership	$3,000,000	No veto		$3,000,000
MH Housing Stock Database	$750,000	No veto		$750,000
Division of Developmental Disabilities
DD Grants and Purchase of Care	$580,308,300	Reduction Veto	-$5,000,000	$575,308,300
2.5% Across the Board Cost-of-Doing Business (CODB) increase	$29,300,000	Reduction Veto	-$11,000,000	$18,300,000
Family Assistance and Home Based Support Services Program	$28,839,500	Reduction Veto	-$1,000,000	$27,839,500
Autism Diagnosis Education Program	$10,000,000	Reduction Veto	-$5,000,000	$5,000,000
ICF/MR Program	$356,856,200	Reduction Veto	-$5,000,000	$351,856,200
Division of Mental Health
Costs associated with conversion to fee-for-services	$2,500,000	Item Veto	-$2,500,000	$0
Grants to providers for IT and other allowable expenses related to conversion (.5% of each providers contracts)	$2,500,000	Item Veto	-$2,500,000	$0
Payment to providers exceeding their total contract amounts	$3,000,000	Item Veto	-$3,000,000	$0
Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse
3% Across the board Cost-of-Doing-Business (CODB) increase	$6,620,000	Item Veto	-$6,620,000	$0
Division of Rehabilitation Services
Grant for technology related assistance	$250,000	Item Veto	-$250,000	$0
Division of Community Health and Prevention
3% Cost-of-Doing-Business (CODB) for EI, Family Case Management, and Lekotek (DRS)	$10,000,000	No veto		$10,000,000
School-Based health centers	$3,000,000	Item Veto	-$3,000,000	$0