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Updated: 10:42 AM Sep 4, 2009
Illinois State Employee Layoffs Latest
We're learning more about which Illinois departments may be affected by Governor Quinn's proposed budget cuts. Posted: 6:16 PM Jul 8, 2009Reporter: Alice Barr |
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2 Comments 
We're learning more about which Illinois departments may be affected by Governor Quinn's proposed budget cuts.
Tuesday Quinn announced a plan to lay off more than 26-hundred state workers, to help close the state's roughly eleven billion dollar budget deficit.
One thousand of those jobs are slated to come from the State Department of Corrections, with 500 cut at a time. We're told the Dixon prison is not impacted in the first round. No word yet on the second set.
We're also learning that the Illinois State Police will take a 24 million dollar hit under the proposal. That includes possibly dropping a class of 100 cadets and instituting 12 furlough days. A state police representative did not yet know if all districts will take on furloughs, but he said public safety won't be compromised.
The Department of Human Services is also hit hard. That department handles substance abuse and mental health programs, among others. They now have 870 jobs on the chopping block statewide, plus furloughs and a ten percent drop in most grants to social service agencies.
Some other notable cuts include 66 jobs lost from the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, along with a 40 million dollar reduction in Illinois Cares prescription coverage.
State health insurance and Medicaid are also expected to take a $140 million hit.
Plus the State Board of Education may face a $174 million cut.
Other areas that could see layoffs include the Departments of Juvenile Justice, Natural Resources and Revenue. Click the link below for a full listing of the cuts.
Governor Quinn wants to pair these cuts with a pension lapse and an income tax increase. That's a tough sell for lawmakers, but Quinn will keep making his case when the General Assembly reconvenes July 14th.
Latest Comments
If they are going to cut jobs for corrections and the prisons are already short staffed and run overtime almost always to cover the lack of manpower then are they going to lock down institutions or let the convicted killers go home and put the public back at risk? If the would get rid of all those deputy directors and unnecessary spending of new autos and things then the state would have some money. Why doesn't all the elected officials take a furlough day or a pay cut to pay for all their spending?
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Let's see you are going to give a State Trooper 12 days a year off with out pay. So while he is off someone else will have to cover his area and shift so does that mean there will be overtime involved what a savings.
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