Illinois To Become Computer Illiterate, Doctors To Slaughter Patients, Public Parks Will Burn

1:35 pm, 3/9/05

Illinois To Become Computer Illiterate, Doctors To Slaughter Patients, Public Parks Will Burn
Thank you, Governor Blagojevich, for responding to concerns about education funding.

To increase state spending on education next year, Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to raid funds set aside to build parks, prevent fires, discipline doctors, buy computers for schools and hundreds of other purposes.

The governor's budget office Tuesday finally released a list of the funds the administration wants to sweep of surplus cash. About 350 funds are on the list, including the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Fund. A portion of the real estate transfer tax is deposited into the fund, and the proceeds are used to finance park projects.

Dave Kelm, coalition coordinator for Partners for Parks and Wildlife, said OSLAD and other park-development funds do not have surpluses. In many cases, he said, what appears to be a surplus is simply money that hasn't been spent because a particular project takes several years to complete.

"It's a bit disingenuous to say there are surpluses," Kelm said. "Every year there are far more requisitions for funds than there is money."

Rep. Renee Kosel, R-New Lenox, said a Chicago TV station recently reported that state officials had complained there was not enough money available to investigate incompetent doctors. However, the governor plans to sweep funds dedicated to investigating doctors, podiatrists, pharmacists and dentists.

Like we don't have malpractice liability problems already?

"To be taking money from health-care provider disciplinary funds is amazing to me," said Rep. Beth Coulson, R-Glenview. "We should be beefing that up, not decreasing it."

Most of the funds collect money from licensing and other fees and are replenished constantly. However, Rep. Connie Howard, D-Chicago, noted that Blagojevich wants to take money out of a fund designed to help the poor obtain access to computers and the Internet. The fund got all of its money at one time from a provision in revised telecommunications laws passed by the General Assembly. Howard also said the administration overestimated how much money remains in the account.

Some money would come out of a fund to promote computer literacy administered by Secretary of State Jesse White's office. Money in the fund came from a grant from Microsoft owner Bill Gates.

"Quite frankly, I don't think Mr. Gates intended it to balance the state budget," said White spokesman Dave Druker.

Blagojevich can't program a VCR, nevermind understanding computers.

Another fund the governor would tap is set up to help victims of domestic violence.

"So what this means is we're going to fund education by letting battered women be battered or killed?" asked Cheryl Howard, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "We're not against funding education, but this is not the way to do it."

Don't worry, though! Everything's going to be OK: Becky Carroll says so!

Becky Carroll, spokeswoman for Blagojevich's budget office, said the governor's plan will not harm programs financed by the special funds.

"These are surplus dollars that have gone unused year after year after year that can be going to a useful purpose," Carroll said. "There is probably no more useful purpose than our classrooms."

As of last June 30, the funds that will be swept had more than $1.1 billion in them, Carroll said. The governor wants to take $420 million and set it aside for schools. Each year, $140 million of that amount will be spent on education. Using only part of the money each year, Carroll said, will enable the state to maintain a pool of money if one of the special funds needs an influx of cash.

In other words, this whole thing appears to be designed not to crash horribly until sometime after the 2008 elections, at which point there's a strong chance of Illinois actually being destroyed by an angry God.