Society will suffer from budget cuts

Recently, a state legislator told me that he couldn't vote for a tax increase because he didn't know how the additional revenues would be spent. He voiced the understandable concerns of many Illinois taxpayers.

We are currently being told that lacking a tax increase will cause the implementation of the governor's doomsday budget, which cuts 50 percent of the general revenue funding to the Department of Health and Human Services. Mental health, alcohol/substance misuse, domestic violence and developmental disability services are funded by that department.

Typically, and certainly at the community mental health center where I work, state taxpayers are getting huge value for their investment. Our staff has not had raises in six years because we have had to double the number of people treated annually. We produce 15 to 20 percent more in Medicaid billing than the state reimburses us for, and the rates the state pays for our services do not cover the cost of providing services. So we ask for and receive funding from local United Ways, mental health boards and individual donors.

Implementing the doomsday budget will force drastic service reductions to people with mental illnesses, alcohol/substance misuse, developmental disabilities and victims of domestic violence. In the case of people with mental illnesses, I know it will increase the number of homeless people in emergency rooms and jails.

Nonprofit social service organizations provide a great return on investment for the state tax revenues received, and their services prevent far more serious problems. Their services also contribute to making our communities more safe and livable. Perhaps, just as important, they provide for our citizens in need.

Fair and appropriate funding for community-based human services, seems to me, to be something worth voting for.

Karen Beyer

Executive Director

Ecker Center for Mental Health

Elgin