Author: Steans Staff

State Sen. Heather Steans (D- Chicago) joined HIV/AIDS advocates from around the state today calling for a fair and balanced budget to protect programs that are essential to the lives of people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS.

"The state is clearly in a financial meltdown right now but one of the things that we’re very concerned about is literally putting peoples’ lives at risk as we make critical budget decisions," said Steans at a State House press conference.

According to advocates, HIV programs need an additional $18 million in state FY 11 to meet growing demand for services and restore programs that were cut this year. Two bills pending in the General Assembly, HB 6173 and SB 3821, would allocate this funding next fiscal year, for a total of $44 million.

Budget

The Senate convened a joint appropriations committee hearing on the budget deficit.  We received budget projections from the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the bi-partisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.  Four different policy groups also provided an overview of the budget crisis and proposed solutions – The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, the Civic Committee, the Civic Federation and the Illinois Policy Institute.  All stressed that

Illinois is on a precipice of financial disaster with a $13 billion projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year. 

 Today we sit down with Senator Steans to get her priorities and overview of the coming legislative session.