Members of the Responsible Budget Coalition visited southern Illinois to talk about how the state can avoid massive budget cuts by generating more revenue.
Speaking Wednesday at Centerstone in Carbondale, David Lloyd with Voices for Illinois Children says his group's report outlines revenue options that can help raise around 11-billion dollars.
Lloyd says one option is to restore a portion of the personal income tax hike that expired in January. He says Illinois now has the lowest combined state and local income tax in the Midwest.
Centerstone is the largest behavioral healthcare provider in southern Illinois. CEO John Markley says for organizations like his - and many others - erasing money off a page doesn't erase the need for those services and budget cuts often lead to higher expenses in the long run.
Robin Moore owns Robin's Nest Learning Center in Carterville. She employs 43 people to oversee 277 children. Moore says the governor's proposed cuts will harm families in southern Illinois. She says some of her parents tell her it would be less expensive for one of them to quit their job than to pay for child care.
The coalition says relying on cuts to balance the budget will not work and that's why lawmakers and the governor must choose to develop new revenue instead of cutting vital services.
