Munger: Budget pinch will hit non-profits 'very quickly'
Suburban nonprofit organizations like the Ray Graham Association are likely to feel the pain of the state's budget impasse very soon, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said Friday.
The Lincolnshire Republican visited the association's Larry J. Bell Community Learning Center in Lisle, where two dozen adults with disabilities were taking part in games and crafts before heading out for activities that included volunteering with the Meals on Wheels program. Illinois has been operating without a budget since July 1. While it can pay bills for social services provided before then, those have largely been paid, Munger said.
That means the flow of state money to nonprofits will end "very quickly," she said.
"You will be the ones to feel the pinch the earliest," she warned center officials Friday.
Lorri Nagle, the association's chief development officer, said Ray Graham earlier this month stopped providing respite care to 350 local families of people with disabilities.
"It is frustrating that they can't come to an agreement on the budget," Nagle said.
Ray Graham received $2 million from the state in the year that ended June 30, according to Munger's site.
While the association has made contingency plans in case state funding is severely cut or stalled for a long time, President and CEO Kim Zoeller said the state's financial troubles put pressure on its cash reserves and line of credit. The association provides services to about 2,000 families in DuPage County.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-led legislature have been at odds over a budget for months, with Rauner saying he won't negotiate until lawmakers approve parts of what he calls his turnaround agenda.
Lawmakers approved a one-month stopgap budget that is on Rauner's desk, but he criticized it as unbalanced and isn't expected to sign it.
Meanwhile, state employees will continue getting paid for now. On Friday, a state appellate court reversed a decree that limited who could be paid while the state has no budget.
Munger said she would support a temporary, short-term budget if it was "based on a balanced budget" but she also stressed the need for a long-term plan so organizations like the Ray Graham Association could budget ahead.