By Jana Wiersema
URBANA — When it comes to the current uncertainty over federal funding, many people have been asking Mayor Diane Marlin the same question: “What can we do as individuals?”
“So what would you tell our constituents?” she asked. “… Everyone wants to do something and say something, and the chaos is so overwhelming that it’s hard to focus.”
“We don’t have the votes to change this,” replied Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “What we do have is our voices in local communities and the stories that we can tell about the devastation that has occurred.”
It was with this aim in mind that Pritzker, U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, and Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello II held a roundtable Wednesday afternoon on how federal cuts and freezes have impacted farming and conservation efforts.
[…]
While the focus of Wednesday’s roundtable was agriculture and conservation, Budzinski and Pritzker said they are also worried about the security of funding for other programs as well, including Medicaid, SNAP and veterans’ services.
Pritzker said that Illinois stands to lose an estimated $11 billion from various federal funding sources, which would pose a serious challenge to the state’s budget.
“We don’t have $11 billion to fill in the gaps,” he said.
Both he and Budzinski claimed that federal funding cuts are not actually about efficiency but rather tax cuts to wealthy individuals and companies.
“They’re looking for any financial offset they can find to pay for these tax cuts,” Budzinski said.
She said that her efforts to fight funding cuts have included trying to find colleagues who can speak directly to Rollins and joining amicus briefs on legal challenges to the Trump administration’s actions. She added that lawmakers are also gearing up to defend against further cuts.
The congresswoman also agreed with Pritzker that local stories of impact should be promoted.
“These are really important agricultural programs, and we need to put a face behind them,” she said.
Costello said that he’s been hearing from lawmakers on the other side of the aisle who want to work together to fight what’s going on at the federal level.
“That, ultimately, is how we’re going to win,” he said. “… When they speak up and speak out, that’s going to make a big difference. But all of us, everybody, whatever party we belong to, needs to.”
