Progress Illinois

We have some good news and bad news on the Illinois labor front.

First, the good: before SEIU joined with Illinois seniors in protest this afternoon, SEIU's Sadie Kliner emailed to let us know that the Department on Aging has found a way to avoid implementing cuts to home care services for seniors in the Community Care Program that were scheduled to begin Sept. 1st. In some ways, it's a stop gap; legislators still needs to pass revenue options to prevent future cuts. But for now, home care workers are safe.

Now, the bad: according to officials at the public employees union AFSCME, Gov. Blagojevich plans to lay off more than 450 state employees in the following departments: Children and Family Services, Human Services, Natural Resources, and Historic Preservation. The cuts will all take place before the end of the year. AFSCME Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer responded to the news with this statement:

"The governor's actions will put abused and neglected children at greater risk, reduce access to Medicaid and food stamps, and further harm state parks and historic sites. These cuts are irresponsible and they are deep, slashing 12 percent of the frontline workforce in child protection and more than 20 percent from historic preservation."

We're going to try to get a comment form the Sierra Club on the Natural Resources cuts.