Budget cuts also can cut jobs

The lingering pain of this recession is real, and affects every citizen in Illinois, our state itself and our elected officials. This is why the West Suburban Jobs Council, a coalition of over 30 member agencies with the mission to increase employment opportunities of low-income DuPage County residents, is concerned about the about the state budget as the legislature is about to reconvene.

DuPage County has seen an increase of over 30 percent low income residents and reflects similar increases throughout the state. Cutting services to our most vulnerable citizens is not the answer.

A simple point that is often overlooked is that our state budget is critical to keeping jobs: Illinois has lost 118,000 jobs simply due to the cuts in education and human services over the past 10 years, and incentives that create jobs are dwindling for employers as well as our workforce development agencies. Illinois ranks 5th in population, but only 43rd in terms of spending as a percentage of GDP.

Cuts to education are the most critical mistake we can make, preventing the growth of a capable workforce that will help strengthen our economy and attract employers. Highly skilled workers are the key to economic growth within our state and education is the tool that makes that happen.

As important as it is for our leaders in Springfield to address the state of Illinois’ debt, let’s not forget that behind every budget line item are real people, many that are the working poor or underemployed. Let’s not sacrifice our infrastructure that creates an attractive business climate, nor sacrifice our support of vital job growth for our workforce, while so many are going without.

Budget cuts are bad medicine at a time when we need to figure out how to keep people employed and our economy producing.

Dennis P. McCann

Advocacy chairman

Barbara Tartaglione

President

West Suburban Jobs Council