Peoria – State Senator Dave Koehler announced his support for a state budget that protects essential services from cuts and includes a fair income tax increase Wednesday, at a community meeting on the impact of Illinois’ budget crisis. The senator publicly endorsed the Campaign for Illinois’ Future – a broad and growing coalition of community, advocacy and labor organizations committed to protecting education, health care and vital public services for Illinois’ working families from harmful budget cuts through a substantial new revenue package that emphasizes tax fairness.

“Illinois has a severe budget problem and it won’t be solved by short-sighted cuts that devastate the programs working families are counting on during this crisis,” said Sen, Koehler. “We need a lasting solution that protects essential services and leads us on a true path toward economic recovery. That’s why I’m here tonight to endorse the Campaign for Illinois’ Future and join the call for a fair income tax increase that will allow us to protect working families now and in the future.”

Sen. Koehler declared his support for the campaign at a community meeting with State Representative Jehan Gordon where teachers, working families, seniors, child care providers and home care workers discussed the impact of the state’s budget crisis. An estimated $12.4 billion budget deficit and unprecedented payment delays have already left many families struggling to get the quality health care, education, and vital public services they count on in tough economic times. Deep budget cuts would put services for these families in greater jeopardy while doing little to solve the structural deficit.

“The Community Care Program is facing a $40 million budget gap which could mean serious cutbacks in service for tens of thousands of seniors,” said Vicki Alexander, a home care provider from Peoria. “We’re counting on all our elected officials to follow Senator Koehler’s lead by standing up for working families and passing a budget that includes a fair income tax increase and prevents devastating cuts to home care, child care, education, and all the essential state programs we depend on.”

“Adequate funding for education is a critical issue in the state of Illinois,” explained Scott Schifeling, president of the Peoria Federation of Teachers. “Students will suffer as decreased dollars translate to overcrowded classrooms, fewer resources, and the closing of schools. The proposed change to the teachers pension system will drastically reduce our ability to recruit young people into our profession and protect the future of quality education in our state.”

The Campaign for Illinois’ Future – which represents over 250,000 Illinois citizens – launched its statewide plan to educate Illinois voters and lawmakers about what is at stake for workingfamilies in the FY10 budget March 19th. Since then, they have aggressively reached out to Illinois communities through town hall meetings, direct mail, phone banks, community forums, door-to-door canvassing and e-organizing.