A Message from the Associate Dean
The political process of passing the Illinois state budget for FY09 continues to unfold. On May 31, the General Assembly passed a budget. By most accounts, this budget was not balanced.
As we all know from the popular press, Governor Blagojevich has indicated where he would cut the General Assembly's budget by ~$1.5 billion in order to balance it. After some midweek confusion related to budget numbers from the IL Department of Agriculture and the Governor's office that did not appear to reconcile, it now appears that the Extension numbers for CBM and CCI track back to the budget numbers the Governor rolled out in February. Under that scenario only CBM would be funded and at a level of $12.1 million. The 4-H Youth Development line that the General Assembly put into the FY09 budget would also not be funded. In addition, there would be cuts in events associated with the Agricultural Fair Act.
Remember that building a budget, in this case the State budget is a process. In fact, the budget approved by the General Assembly is not actually on the Governor's desk at this time. So, we do not officially have "target" numbers to address, per se. The process is not over.
So, what can be done at this time?
- Keep up the good programming and impacts,
- Educate your local representatives as you have been doing of the demand for Extension programs and potential impacts to your programming.
- At this time, we do not encourage legislators to pass any particular bill or bills. However, we appreciate the numbers for Extension in the budget approved by the General Assembly.
Sincerely,
Dennis R. Campion, Associate Dean
Extension and Outreach
News & Announcements
CADS ASSEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES WEBSITE (FYI 08-16)
The new CADS - Community Assessment and Development Services website has just been launched. It may be accessed at at http://cads.extension.uiuc.edu/
Earl Bricker will be sending more information about the program in the near future.
An icon has been created so this website can been added as a featured website to unit and center websites.
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Around the World with FYI
CANADIAN RAIN FOREST (FYI 08-16)
On the west coast of Canada, stretching from Vancouver Island, across Queen Charlotte Strait, and up the central coast of British Columbia to the Alaskan border, stretches a unique world treasure – the Great Bear Rainforest.
A fierce battle has waged over this special piece of land for decades between environmentalist groups that wanted to protect the integrity of the forest and its fauna and the logging and mining companies who wanted to reap the profits this part of Canada seems to promise. Finally an unprecedented agreement between environmentalists, the industry, local and federal government and indigenous groups has been reached which places more than 19 million acres under strict land management guidelines called ecosystem based management.
Great Bear Rainforest is home to a wide variety of species like goshawks, marbled murrelets and grizzly bears. These will now be protected for future generations to learn about them and encounter them in their natural habitat.
Please click on this link to see the feature: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/parks-and-nature-places/forests-and-jungles/canada_canadianrainforest.html When the feature is over, please click the "stop" sign.
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Directory Updates
GRUNDY COUNTY (FYI 08-16)
The Grundy County office has moved. The new address is:
4000 North Division Street
Morris, IL 60450
Both telephone and fax numbers remain the same.
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Current Openings in Extension
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