SPRINGFIELD, IL -- (Marketwire) -- 06/01/09 -- While few people in Illinois will be left unscathed by the current Illinois State "doomsday" budget passed by the General Assembly, among those set to bear the brunt of the cuts are the state's most vulnerable population, the elderly. Faced with slashes to health care, prescription drug assistance and programs providing critical community services -- AARP is standing up in strong opposition to the budget and is urging the General Assembly to fix the problem they left in Springfield.

"By neglecting the needs of hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents, children, families and the elderly, this budget puts our state's worst foot forward," said Bob Gallo, State Director for AARP in Illinois. "At a time when people need state programs the most, like those that help people have access to healthcare and relief from high prescription drug costs, this budget pulls the rug out from underneath them."

Key among the cuts opposed by AARP:

--  Community Care Program slated to be cut in half, leaving roughly
    26,000 without the services they need to remain in their communities,
    subjecting them to more costly institutional care, such as nursing homes.
--  Eliminating the Elder Abuse & Neglect Program - meaning 11,000 cases
    won't be investigated.
--  Eliminating the Circuit Breaker program - which helps over 270,000
    older Illinoisans struggling with high Rx costs and property taxes.
--  Closing all four Illinois veterans' homes - leaving over 1,000
    veterans without health care and other services.
--  Cutting home services for the disabled - leaving over 5,000 people
    with no community access to the programs that help them remain independent.
    

"This budget does more harm than good -- it is unconscionable," added Gallo. "The General Assembly left some major problems and unfinished business in Springfield and we're urging them to go back and fix the state budget."

AARP has set up the Illinois State Budget Hotline, toll-free at 1-888-616-3322, to connect the public directly to their legislators on this issue.