Senior citizens’ services now suffering from lack of budget

Posted on November 5, 2015

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – A senior citizens’ center blocks from the Capitol is the setting for the latest installment of “Don’t Cut Us.”

While state treasurer Mike Frerichs and the AARP co-hosted a news conference there to say the governor and lawmakers should get together on a budget, nobody involved could name a service to cut, or a tax to raise, that would make up the $4 billion imbalance in a budget the General Assembly passed and the governor vetoed. Frerichs says it’s clear the obstacle is the governor’s insistence on the legislatrue passing elements of his “Turnaround Agenda,” anyway.

Springfield-area senior Janet Miller still works full-time and only needs a ride – a ride provided by Senior Services of Central Illinois, which is now closing every Friday because of the budget impasse. “I have been able to keep my daily life intact and going like it has been,” said Miller.

Another senior said the food provided at the center is vital, especially because she does not feel safe going to the local breadline.

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