St. Clair County lays off youth workers due to state budget impasse

A youth job training program run by the St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department has been suspended because of the state budget impasse, county officials confirmed Friday.

Rick Stubblefield, the governance and program coordinator for the workforce development group, said 34 workers, who had jobs through the program, were told Friday money had run out.

Some have been on the job for six weeks; some started this week, Stubblefield said.

“These are individuals doing the right thing, getting up, not laying around ... a lot are getting ready to go to college and (we) pull the rug out from under them,” Stubblefield said.

“Beside the money, this is something to put on the resume, to show they have something ‘I’ve accomplished, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do,’” Stubblefield added.

An additional 38 workers, ages 16 to 20, were set to start work Monday, but can’t.

Youngsters in the program are considered at-risk for dropping out of high school or not going on to college or pursuing work after high school. Some are youngsters who have dropped out of high school, Stubblefield said.

St. Clair County’s program, which provides 16 weeks of paid work experience, places youngsters in jobs around St. Clair County, as well as Clinton, Monroe, Randolph and Washington counties.

The youngsters earn minimum wage for 20 hours of work a week at a variety of private sector and public sector workplaces, such as the East Side Health District and Touchette Regional Hospital.

The St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department has a $19 million budget. Different federal grants make up 81 percent of the budget; the rest is from the state grant money.

“We can’t use one grant to keep another one afloat,” said Terry Beach, executive director of the Intergovernmental Grants Department.

The program receives federal funding through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, but it is passed through the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity before reaching county coffers.

Because the state hasn’t adopted a budget for this fiscal year with a line item appropriating the money, the county can’t receive the cash.

“I don’t want anyone to work when we can’t write a check,” Stubblefield said.

He added the grants department hopes to reinstate the program.

The General Assembly and the governor’s office have yet to agree on a budget for the 2016 fiscal year, and how to close a $4 billion deficit.

“During the budget crisis, the state is holding up all this money,” Beach said. “It’s frustrating and sad. The funds are designated for us and in our names, and we can’t access it because of gamesmanship in Springfield.”

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office placed the blame on General Assembly Democrats.

“Speaker (Mike) Madigan and the legislators he controls passed a budget that was out of balance by $4 billion, and without a balanced budget, there is no appropriation authority to distribute the federal money,” said Catherine Kelly, a spokeswoman for the governor.

Steve Brown, spokesman for Madigan’s office, deflected blame back onto Rauner, saying the governor has amendatory veto powers or could have negotiated with Democrats.

“Hopefully we can get this resolved sooner rather than later,” Brown said. “These situations ... will crop up all over the state. It’s all unfortunate. It could have been avoided through negotiations in May or if (the governor) used his authority of amendatory veto.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 3:03 PM with the headline "St. Clair County lays off youth workers due to state budget impasse."