Bunker Hill, IL – After listening to Governor Pat Quinn’s budget address Wednesday afternoon, Macoupin County Board Chairman and candidate for State Senate in the 48th District Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill), urged the Governor to rethink the plan and start over.  While Manar and the Quinn don’t see eye to eye on many of the proposals outlined Wednesday, Manar supports closing tax loopholes for large corporations and eliminating the natural gas tax for Illinois small businesses and middle class families.  The Governor and the General Assembly should mirror the approach Manar has practiced as Macoupin County Board Chairman of mandating efficiencies and cutting waste, while protecting key priorities.

“The budget Governor Quinn laid out Wednesday illustrates exactly what’s wrong with Springfield.  Most of the cuts are aimed at Downstate, while most of new investments are not.”

There Governor proposed closures for state facilities and offices in Decatur, Carlinville, and Litchfield.  However, only one school district in the 48th District is authorized by the Governor to receive school construction funds.

“It’s time to stop coddling Chicago and to get to work putting together a budget that reduces the deficit and ensures our economy can grow Downstate.”

One example of the Governor’s misplaced priorities is the proposal he put forth regarding closing six of the seven Adult Transition Centers in the state, including a facility in Decatur.  Only the North Lawndale Adult Transition Center in Chicago was not targeted.  Adult Transition Centers (ATCs) provide supervision, sanctions, reintegration programs, and educational programs to those convicted of non-violent crimes.  Those programs include GED and basic education courses to reduce repeat offenders.

“The ATC facility in Decatur is far cheaper than a minimum security prison.  It requires that non-violent offenders take the steps necessary to gain employment, pay taxes, and therefore contribute to reducing our deficit.  Cutting this facility only leads to more prisoners re-offending, which further burdens taxpayers,” Manar said.  “My fear is that this plan doesn’t reduce the deficit, it just shifts money from one part of the Illinois Correctional Department’s budget to another,” added Manar.  “I’d like to hear more from the Governor about how he thinks creating more overcrowded prisons helps the budget and why he believes Chicago’s ATC facility is more important than Decatur’s.  Obviously, the Governor and I don’t see eye to eye on this issue. ”

A 2007 study found that Adult Transition Centers in Illinois reduced recidivism rates, the rate at which prisoners re-offend after release and have to return to a correctional facility, by as much as 40 percent.  According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, the average annual cost of an inmate at Decatur’s ATC facility is nearly half that of an inmate at a minimum security prison also located in Decatur, $20,912 and $38,171 respectively.

Despite Manar’s disagreements with large parts of the Governor’s budget, Manar is supportive of tax reform that ensures that large corporations pay as much as working families.  The money gained from this reform can ensure that important relief is provided to middle income families and small businesses from the elimination of Illinois’ natural gas tax to help the Downstate economy grow.

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Andy Manar has experience successfully working through a budget crisis as Macoupin County Board Chairman.  Facing sharply declining tax revenues in previous years, due in part to the closure of two of the county’s three active coal mines, Manar found a way to close double digit funding gaps while avoiding sales tax increases, service cuts, and layoffs.

Under Andy’s leadership, the size of the Macoupin County Board was cut by one-third and a costly pension plan that had been in place for elected officials was repealed.  While the Board cut spending, it also preserved services by mandating efficiencies in each Department.

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