Requesting an Illinois Budget
Governor Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan
Dear Illinois Vincentians,
The State of Illinois has been without a budget since July, 2015. The impasse between the governor and the General Assembly is causing hardship on the people we serve and the social service agencies they depend on for the assistance they deserve. We communicated with National SVdP Voice of the Poor and with your Council Presidents on this issue and we agree to ask you to send a letter to Gov. Rauner and Speaker Madigan urging them to work on a fair and just budget.
In March, 2015 Sheila Gilbert, SVdP National President outlined the moral criteria to guide budgetary decisions:
- Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity.
- A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or living in poverty should come first.
- Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the common good for all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic times.
We support the goal of reducing future unsustainable deficits, and believe our state has an obligation to address their impact on the health of the economy. A just framework for the state budget, however, cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons, it requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues.
By completing the form attached here allows you to urge the governor and speaker to move the budget forward, protecting poor and vulnerable people from harmful budget cuts, much the way CAPWIZ works to contact Federal legislators.
In the future, we hope will continue to work together as advocates on further action benefiting those we serve.
Thank you,
Pam Matambanadzo (Chicago VOP) and Mary Anne Michelet (Peoria VOP),
Illinois Voice of the Poor Committee
Petition by
Sponsored by
To:
Governor Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Governor Rauner and House Speaker Madigan,
I am a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, a Catholic lay organization that serves the poor. I am reaching out to you today on behalf of the people we serve who are being severely impacted by the lack of a State budget.
Not only do we advocate for our poor and marginalized friends with our legislators, we also assist them directly with rent, utilities, and food, and we have programs specifically aimed at ending “Poverty through Systemic Change.” We typically visit our friends in need in their homes, so we see how they are struggling with trying to survive and provide for their families.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul has seen a marked increase in calls for assistance in the past year. In particular, the last four months show an approximate increase of 39% over the same period for the prior year. Without a State budget the need for our services is stretched leaving many with acute needs. Many of these have been making great strides to lift themselves out of poverty but the present situation is forcing them to regress.
Many of the people we serve have jobs, often more than one. Most of these jobs do not provide a living wage. Without a budget a great number of people we serve have been heavily affected by the corresponding cuts, ranging from those to mental health and elder services to funding for childcare. The people we serve are unjustly and disproportionately carrying the burden of the lack of a State budget. The loss of jobs for those providing services has a significant domino effect that we plead for you to take into consideration.
Every person not going back to work is another person in need of our extremely stretched resources. It is our ministry to assist those in need, but we also need a State budget so people can get back to work and people in need can get the services they deserve. Private donations cannot be expected to do the government’s job.
Issues like jobs, and services for the poor, elderly and disabled are not “political,” they are HUMAN issues addressed by politics. Please do not delay any longer in making a responsible budget. Do not budget against the poor, disabled, mentally ill, children and elderly. Our faith traditions and the moral and civic authority inherent for just State governance requires that we keep these, the most vulnerable among us, at the top of our budget priorities.
Sincerely,