A group of human service providers is calling on lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner to not only pass a budget for the current fiscal year, but also approve a plan for next fiscal year.
“If they could do it for two years, that would help people set their planning, so they have a better understanding of staffing and the ability to know how many people they can serve," says Judith Gethner with Illinois Partners for Human Services. The governor is scheduled to present his next budget in February. But Gethner says that the work for next fiscal year’s spending plan typically starts at this time of year, so it would be possible to approve a two-year plan in January.
The groups want a multi-year plan, so providers can prepare for cuts that are likely to come. “You give these nonprofits the ability to plan starting in January for not only the last six months of the fiscal year, but then into the next year. Cause they can do better at fending off whatever’s going to hit them if they’ve got longer runway to run," Gethner says.
