Blago was stupid for making Quinn his second in command and even dumber the way he did buisness in the State office. Now Quinn is a stupid fuck who can not get his head out of his ass.
One of Gov.
Pat
Quinn'sfirst acts after assuming office in 2009 was reopening seven state
parks that predecessor
Rod
Blagojevich shuttered in a cost-saving move.
At the time, Quinn argued that closing the parks cost Illinois more in lost
tourism dollars than the move saved.
But just three years later, ongoing money problems may lead to new state park
closures just as the summer tourist season is heating up.
The problem centers on the budget for the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources, which manages the state's more than 300 parks, forests and wildlife
areas. As other priorities such as health care and pension costs took up more
and more of the state budget, less money was left for other services, including
conservation and recreation.
A large chunk of the department's budget comes from state general revenue. It
totaled $106 million in 2002 but is now just $45.4 million in the spending plan
that lawmakers sent Quinn last month. Agency officials are re-evaluating their
business model with the idea of finding a dedicated funding stream to pay for
parks, trails and other services.
Earlier this year, the agency backed a plan to charge park visitors $7 for a
single-day pass or $25 for a yearly pass. But that idea was set aside when
supporters realized it would be difficult to enforce in parks with multiple
entrances and dwindling manpower.
A new proposal emerged that would raise license plate fees for all motorists
by $2, with the money being used to keep parks open and repair those suffering
from years of neglect. The proposal narrowly passed the House last month but
failed to get enough support in the Senate during the waning hours of the spring
session.
Sponsoring Rep.
Frank
Mautino, D-Spring Valley, had said the measure would raise $15 million in
its first year and $32 million in later years for the DNR.
Without that money, agency director Marc Miller said he's now faced with the
possibility of closing parks, cutting operating hours and laying off
workers.
It's unclear what locations might have to close or when cutbacks will be put
in place, but Miller said "everything is on the table."
"I know personally that Gov. Quinn is committed to do better for the
environment and conservation, but it's been a very difficult time these last
three years," Miller said. "We've had unprecedented budget issues ... and we
have to live within these times."
But Miller said his agency is also at a crossroads and can no longer continue
to limp along. Either fees must be raised so the agency can support itself, or
there won't be much left for visitors to enjoy, Miller said.
In addition to budget cuts, the agency faces $750 million worth of deferred
maintenance projects. Sewers, roads and other park infrastructure have been left
to crumble because there's no money for upkeep.
Last year, the Adeline Jay Geo-Karis
Illinois
Beach State Park in
Zion
had to close after summer storms ripped through the area and knocked down or
damaged hundreds of trees. The department couldn't afford to hire a contractor
to quickly clean up the safety hazards, so workers slowly chipped away at the
job and the park reopened about nine months later, having lost hundreds of
thousands of dollars in camping revenue, Miller said.
The agency ran into other problems during southern Illinois floods last year.
Conservation police were called in to help rescue those trapped by the rising
water but had to borrow boats from other agencies because the ones they normally
use were in such bad shape.
This year, Miller said, he is concerned that a wave of employee retirements
may make it difficult to keep sites staffed and open. The agency has been under
a hiring freeze for the last decade, and staff levels have dropped from 2,400
employees in 2002 to about 1,100 employees now. But that number may drop even
lower, as 80 workers have already expressed interest in retiring this year amid
ongoing talks about reforming the state's public employee pension system. More
than 200 others are also eligible for retirement this year.
That means the agency may be forced to pay out anywhere from $3 million to $5
million in retirement benefits, an expense that wasn't factored into the latest
spending plan, said Mautino, who has spent the last year working on the funding
issues. As a result, even more cuts may have to be made, Mautino said.
"It's a cash flow issue," said Mautino, who warned the prospects are even
worse in 2013 when the agency will likely be facing a $22 million shortfall if
nothing is done.
While most of the focus has been on the damage to state parks, Mautino noted
the agency is responsible for billions of dollars that flow to the state's
economy through tourism and other industries that it oversees, including coal,
gas and mining. Without the proper resources, Mautino said the state is losing
out on jobs because there aren't enough people to process mining permits in a
timely manner.
Mautino said raising fees would ease that pressure. On top of the increase in
license plate fees, his proposal would also impose a new $15 annual fee for ATV
users and raise other fees related to coal mining, oil and gas drilling, and
commercial fishing. Out-of-state visitors would also be charged entrance fees to
state parks, and new admission fees would be imposed for the Illinois State
Museum in Springfield.
Quinn has vowed to sign the bill to raise license plate fees and the other
agency fees if it makes it to his desk, and his budget director has promised
Mautino that the funds would not be used to pay other expenses.
"We certainly support" the proposal, Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said.
"Our state treasures are very important to Gov. Quinn and the people of
Illinois, and he has a long history of standing up for our state parks and
natural resources."
Sen.
Toi
Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said she'd like to take another shot at
passing the fee increase legislation over the summer.
But Hutchinson acknowledged it might be overshadowed by efforts to strike a
deal with Quinn on how to reform the pension systems, which are underfunded by
more than $80 billion. If there is no time to take up the funding issue over the
summer, Hutchinson said she would revisit it during the fall veto session.
"I understand that some people don't think that we should raise fees on
anything right now, but at some point we have to have a conversation about what
it costs to invest in the infrastructure of this state," Hutchinson said. "Why
would we not take every opportunity we can to give the department a way to be
sustainable on its own?"
In the meantime, Miller is faced with some tough decisions.
"We are determined to do our best to keep everything open, but it's going to
be quite challenging as we go through the summer without that funding."
INDIANAPOLIS -- A family is grieving after the deaths of two brothers who were shot in a car after leaving a nightclub early Sunday morning.
