The human services sector makes a major contribution to Illinois' economy, but the current budget impasse is making that area suffer. Human services hire more than 1,000 workers in McLean County. With a loss of these jobs, there will be less income to the community through taxes and spending.
LIFE Center for Independent Living Executive Director Gail Kear said the erosion of services will impact our community long into the future.
"I don't think people realize the magnitude of this. It's their Grandmas who are not going to get Meals on Wheels. It's their family member who has developed an addiction and needs immediate help in order to save his life," said Kear.
Kear said some people are met with a nine-month waiting list for help, even if an individual is about to die. She said the long list of impacts due to the impasse is mind-boggling.
When GLT last spoke to Kear, the Bloomington LIFE CIL had already cut back to four days a week, three days in Pontiac, and cut staff 20 percent.
LIFE CIL Advocacy and Advancement Director Rickielee Benecke said darker days are ahead if there's no state funding by July 1.
"We have fulfilled our end of the bargain, we have provided services and fulfilled our contract obligations, now it is time for the General Assembly and the governor to fulfill their end," said Benecke.
LIFE CIL alone is already owed $108,000 from the state. With no state budget, the agency would lose out on another $174,000 from the federal government. But, LIFE CIL is not the only local provider struggling.
The Child Care Resource & Referral Network sent letters out to 475 child care programs in McLean, Livingston, Ford, and DeWitt Counties Tuesday notifying them the nurse consultant project will no longer exist after Thursday.
Executive Director Pamela Womack said there was only one nurse covering the area for 18 years and the Department of Human Services can't fund her anymore.
"Illinois is losing those dollars altogether. So, that almost half-a-million a year just for the counties we serve for, those programs will be lost because Illinois is not able to draw those down from the federal government," said Womack.
Womack said officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Illinois Department of Transportation are still trying to figure out how the federal dollars could help fund programs, but it is impossible without a budget passed.
Benecke had a message for lawmakers who have been fighting over the budget for the last year.
"A million people are depending on you, many of them literally with their lives," said Benecke.
Benecke and other local providers will attend a rally outside the Illinois Capital at 7 p.m. Tuesday to urge lawmakers to pass a budget. The event is being organized by a grassroots group called "Get It Done Illinois."