Rally for funding

Beck Diefenbach - bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com Deven Rainey, of DeKalb, listens as parents and teachers speak during the rally for child care providers and other social services demonstrating at the office of Illinois State Representative Robert Pritchard in Sycamore, Ill., on Thursday June 11, 2009. Rainey's daughter attends the Children's Learning Center.

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SYCAMORE – Andrea Blank just wants to finish what she's started.

The DeKalb single mother of three children works 30 hours a week and takes classes full time at Northern Illinois University. She is able to do that, she said, because of state subsidies that help pay for her child care expenses at the Children's Learning Center.

"This help has literally saved our lives," she said tearfully. "Without child care, I couldn't afford to work or go to school."

Blank was one of several speakers Thursday at a rally held to protest looming cuts to child care and other social-service programs funded by the state.

Illinois lawmakers have passed a budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts July 1. But the budget could force $7 billion in cuts as the state grapples with a $11.6 billion deficit. Social-service agencies that receive money from the Department of Health and Human Services were told last week to expect a 50 percent cut in funding for the next fiscal year.

That would be devastating for child care programs, said Micki Chulick, executive director of Community Coordinated Child Care and organizer of Thursday's rally. The cuts would mean more than 150,000 children in the state would lose their subsidies, she said. In DeKalb County, 1,069 children would lose their child care.

Cutting the subsidies means many low-income families will no longer be able to work and will have to go onto welfare, Chulick said. That in turn will lead to a loss in the income tax base, she said, as well as job losses as child care agencies lay off employees since there will be fewer children enrolled.

"It's a triple, triple loss if these budget cuts are allowed to stand," she said, then asked that lawmakers fund social service programs by approving an increase in the state income tax.

The rally was held in the parking lot of Atrium Office Center at 2600 DeKalb Avenue in Sycamore, where state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley, has his district office. Chulick said they focused on the area's state representative, as opposed to its state senator, because the Senate already has passed a budget and an income tax increase.

The rally drew about 300 people; about half of them were children who attend area child care centers. They cheered whenever vehicles passing by honked their horn in support, and offered words of encouragement to speakers who became emotional as they shared their stories.

Single mother Tamara McCollum said she has struggled much of her life, including time spent at homeless shelters. But she and her four children now live in an apartment in Sycamore, she is working and her children are in child care.

"I want to succeed and be more," she said. "But I need support of 4-C. I can't afford to pay for child care on my own."

Pritchard told the crowd that he knows the looming cuts would affect numerous people in the state. But he also stressed to the crowd that the state needs to do what residents are doing during the tough economic times – and that is look for places to tighten their belts. He voted against the budget because he said it does not provide the basic services required by the state's residents.

"We have to make choices in Springfield, just like you do," he said. "In Springfield, we haven't made any changes."

He said he would consider a hike in the income tax – but only if the Legislature first prioritizes how the state spends its money.

"I don't think we start by saying citizens should pay more money without doing what you are doing," he told the crowd. "The state hasn't done any of that."

Pritchard said after the rally that he anticipates lawmakers will be back in Springfield before the end of the month to revisit budget issues.