Day 3. Still no budget. A proposal vetoed, an $11.6 billion deficit to deal with.

It's a rocky start to Illinois' new fiscal year that has agencies across the state sweating the financial side of their jobs, waiting to see what will transpire as the governor and legislators continue to disagree on how to pay the bills.

"It's the same old, same old politics for the state of Illinois," said Jim Berry, 63, of Mt. Carmel. "We live beyond our means; we always have. We want more than we can afford."

Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday vetoed the doomsday budget sent to his desk, keeping his pledge to reject a proposal he says "does not effectively address Illinois' growing budgetary and economic calamity."

Twenty-year-old Cameron Crago of Mt. Carmel says career politicians and irresponsible government are to blame.

"For one thing, they didn't manage their money well to begin with. This situation is not only to be expected, but it should have been anticipated," Crago said. "It's all because of the irresponsibility of the state government and its career politicians."

The budget approved by lawmakers in June would have cut state human services by 50 percent. Now, lawmakers plan to return to Springfield July 14 to continue budget talks. There has even been mention in the media of a veto override.

"It was not immediately clear what impact (Quinn's) veto might have on human service providers and their clients," State Senator John O. Jones (R-54), stated in his weekly review Thursday. "…The governor has sent mixed signals - alternately declaring that he would shut off funding to providers and slash services, and then backing off his own threats."

"The governor's flip-flops have left thousands of human service providers in the dark, with some saying they have no choice but to assume the worst and lay-off employees, reduce services or even close," Jones said.

ASSUMING THE WORST: CRA-WA-LA

Some Wabash County area agencies are indeed already assuming the worst.

Cra-Wa-La Volunteers in Probation, Inc. announced this week the layoff of three of its staff members as a direct result of anticipated funding shortages. The Lawrenceville-based agency - which serves 16 southeastern Illinois counties with such services as mentoring, meth prevention and youth advocacy - says it found out June 25 that the Illinois Department of Human Service would no longer be able to afford its community youth services and unified delinquency intervention services programs.

D. Marie Goff, executive director of Cra-Wa-La, said the agency has helped 46 grassroots organizations with its community youth services programs over the last 12 years. It has offered summer food and activity programs, after-school programs and, more recently, its diversion programs that redirect youth from further involvement in the juvenile justice system, to name a few.

Since 1999, Cra-Wa-La's unified delinquency intervention services has served 127 youths, Goff says. Ninety percent of them have successfully completed the program, and enjoyed no further incidents or involvement in the criminal justice system.

"We have four youth receiving these services, and they will all be affected by the 'lights going out' on this program," Goff said.

Cra-Wa-La will continue to operate its Mentoring Children of Prisoners and Meth Prevention programs, and will "work hard to regroup and continue the programs and services," Goff said.

PREPARING TO ENDURE CUTS: WABASH COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Receiving its own notices of state funding cuts, the Wabash County Board of Health came up with its own emergency plan to cut costs in order to keep the health department and medical center's doors open.

If things don't change in their favor financially, the health department plans to cut hours of full-time staff and trim availability of services to four days a week.

"We will go to a four-day work week, and will have to close the main office and the prevention office on Fridays," said Cindy Brown, health department administrator, after an emergency Board of Health meeting in late June. "The medical center we are planning to close on Wednesdays because we don't want to have that facility closed for three days in a row."

Cuts include:

• $95,000 in Non-Medicaid FFS, which would affect some 45 out of 180 individuals receiving mental health services who did not have private insurance or Medicaid.

• $23,000 in Psychiatric Services.

• Almost $5,000 in Psychiatric Medications.

Programs facing a 75 percent slash in funding include All Our Kids Early Childhood Development, family planning and teen parent services.

Itemized cuts include:

• ALL OUR KIDS - $2,064

• NON-MCD FEE FOR SERVICES - $85,000

• PSYCHIATRIST - $23,000

• HEART SMART FOR TEENS - $23,000

• TEEN PARENT SERVICES - $11,414

• LOCAL HEALTH PROTECTION GRANT - $63,000

• FAMILY PLANNING - $4,425

• WOMEN, INFANTS & CHILDREN - $2,000

• FAMILY CASE MANAGEMENT - $3,747

• PRENATAL SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION PROGRAM (PSUPP) - $12,500

BRACING FOR A HIT: DISTRICT 348 PRE-K PROGRAMS

More than $340,000 in state cash is on the line for the Wabash Community Unit District 348 Pre-K program, which serves children ages 3-5, and the Project CARES program for kids birth-5. The programs are funded by the state board of education's Early Childhood Block Grant - part of a list of grants for which the state board may slash funding by 50 percent.

That would translate to $343,818 less for the local programs.

NO DESIRE TO BE UNPREPARED: THE CITY OF MT. CARMEL

City of Mt. Carmel finance commissioner Jack Emmons offered a melancholy warning to fellow members of the city council this week: Keep the belts tight, watch expenses, and start thinking about what services can be scaled back in case the city starts running out of money.

"If the state starts holding up payments, the city would definitely be in trouble," Emmons told the council as he went over the city's last two weeks of receipts and expenditures. The city routinely relies on regular payments from the state, like sate income tax money and sales tax funding. Those two areas alone are expected to supply the city's general fund with $1.6 million this fiscal year - more than half of all general fund receipts budgeted.

So while city finances are currently "relatively stable," Emmons said, "we're going to have to really watch expenses."

In the future, he added, there may come a time when officials will have to decide if they can afford to continue to provide certain services.

Emmons used as examples the local city pool, the municipal golf course. The course's current $280,000 deficit, he said, is practically equal to the general fund's current account balance of $295,000.

"One of these days, there are going to be some tough choices, possibly, to make," he said.

City Street Commissioner Mike Witters noted his street department has "cut it down to the nub, so to speak," in terms of number of workers. The department, with its one superintendent and six crew members, essentially loses two people to all of the mowing tasks that must be performed this time of year, the commissioner said.

"It's becoming very cumbersome," Witters said as he described workers "having more trouble" meeting needs.