As of today the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will sustain a $14 million blow to its budget. That’s the amount Gov. Rod Blagojevich sliced from DNR’s funding as part of larger cuts to the state’s 2009 spending plan. Blagojevich’s ally in Springfield, Senate President Emil Jones, wouldn’t go along with the House this month in trying to restore some of the money. So, absent a miracle - or a concerted legislative effort to try again, come the fall veto session - it may be curtains for certain parks services, along with dozens of employees. Also on the chopping block is Wildlife Prairie State Park’s entire state operating appropriation, more than $800,000. It’s a devastating blow. In one respect we can’t fault Blagojevich for doing what the Legislature didn’t, which was to craft a solvent spending plan. Illinois is bound by its constitution to pass a balanced budget. The one that landed on the governor’s desk was an indefensible $2 billion in the red. House Speaker Michael Madigan pretty much punted, then practically dared the guv, his political rival, to do the hard work for him. That Blagojevich did. Meanwhile, Illinois’ parks weren’t the only casualty of his $1.4 billion total cuts; health care programs and social services lost big, too. No doubt these were difficult choices. No doubt proponents of each slashed program could offer compelling arguments to restore their funding. Nonetheless, perhaps no department has been ...
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