Springfield gridlock stuns and frustrates ordinary Illinoisans

Sunday, August 12, 2007 9:18 PM CDT

By John O’Connor
Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD — At first, people rolled their eyes and cracked jokes about Illinois officials failing, and failing some more, to approve a new state budget.

Then August arrived.

A temporary budget expired. Talk of a government shutdown ran wild. As temperatures rose, so did anxiety over the impact of the bitter deadlock.

Will state employees get paid? What will happen to funding for public schools? Are people without health insurance going to get any assistance?

The longer the impasse drags on, the more is at stake for ordinary people.

The state employee

Ellen Reeder usually scans the ads, clips coupons and spends $40 a week on groceries. Last week, she cut back to $28, trying to save wherever she can in case her paycheck is late.

Reeder is a caseworker for the All Kids health insurance program. She began a belated state career 11 years ago, giving up a private-sector job she loved because it offered no insurance.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s insistence on developing a universal health care program helped cause the record overtime session. That produces mixed feelings for Reeder, who has to turn down uninsured applicants for All Kids because they have no children.

She sees “a huge need’’ for expanded health care but also understands why lawmakers want to keep a lid on spending. She suggests phasing in universal health insurance — and beginning the debate earlier so that state employees wouldn’t be wondering in August when they’ll get paid.

“I feel badly for the people with children who have to start school in a couple of weeks,’’ says Reeder, 59, a single mother whose children are grown. “They face heavy expenses with possibly no paycheck.’’

Even if her wages were cut off, Reeder would keep punching in.

“My job makes a difference,’’ she says. “There are a lot of dedicated people there who know that because of the job they do every day, some kid with an earache is going to get an antibiotic and it won’t hurt anymore.’’

The businessman

Don Smith Paint Co. doesn’t count the state of Illinois among its bigger customers, having sold the government about $100,000 worth of paint, sprayers, wallpaper and blinds during the past five years, according to state records.

But it doesn’t take a shuttered Capitol to affect business, says owner Richard Scott, 52.

“People are worried: Are we going to get a paycheck next week or not? The minute they have that in the back of their head, they draw the reins in on buying anything,’’ says Scott, who’s owned the 58-year-old Springfield business for about 15 years.

Scott does less business with the state since it started writing “master’’ contracts — hiring one company to supply commodities anywhere in the state. His company can’t compete on transportation costs, so Smith sticks to local jobs.

But many of his customers are contractors buying paint for state projects.

“If somebody doesn’t get their paycheck, they can’t come to me and buy something,’’ Scott says. “It’s just a trickle down effect. Restaurants will feel it; everybody will feel it.’’

The teacher

Thirteen years ago, when Tamara Douglass started teaching, she was allotted $20 in the spring to buy supplies for the following fall. That’s down to $12 now, and Douglass buys some supplies on her own.

“I try to look for ways around things that cost,’’ says Douglass, 36, a social studies teacher at Springfield Southeast High School. “In a way, it kind of limits what I do.’’

Like many teachers, she’s frustrated by the government’s inability to resolve decades of debate over school funding.

“I’m so disgusted about the lip service that everyone pays education,’’ Douglass says. “I’m disgusted with all of them, I don’t care what party they represent. I just want them to do the jobs they’re elected to do.’’

Teachers around Illinois are trying to prepare for the school year while worrying about the arrival of $170 million in aid from the state.

Douglass got an early taste of the uncertainty last month while helping with a history project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It involved students preparing banners about a 1908 Springfield race riot.

It appeared that state government might shut down during the project when a temporary budget expired July 31. “Halfway through our second week, we had to tell the kids, ‘We’re not sure if we’re going to be able to put your exhibit on,’’’ Douglass recalls.

In the end, the project continued and state government is still running — for now.

The advocate

It’s been nearly two decades since Carmen Velasquez helped found the Alivio Medical Center to care for the uninsured and working poor on Chicago’s southwest side. It depends heavily on state money, particularly for children and pregnant women.

Without a timely state budget, cash flow at the medical center would suffer, crimping Alivio’s ability to pay staff and other bills, Velasquez said.

Velasquez could be forgiven for losing patience with the governor and lawmakers for arguing all summer, but she takes a pragmatic view.

“This is the United States of America and there is a process, whether we like it or not,’’ Velasquez said. “What can I say?’’

As a member of the Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care, Alivio supports Blagojevich’s Illinois Covered plan for health insurance. She continues to press for action.

“We are doing the usual things to convince your representatives that this is something your constituents need and want — more so, need,’’ Velasquez said. “This is not about saying, ‘I want to go to the show.’ This is my baby, it’s my health, it’s my future.’’