In his Tribune column today, Eric Zorn presses Gov. Blagojevich and Springfield lawmakers to reinstate funding for CeaseFire, a Chicago-based anti-violence program whose $6.2 million line-item was cut from the state budget last year:
Odd thing is, CeaseFire was partly Blago's baby: [founder and director Gary] Slutkin credits the governor with allocating the discretionary funds in 2004 that allowed the program to triple the number of communities it served that year.
He could have slapped his name on it, as he's wont to do. Instead he slapped it down, saying we just can't afford it.
And now, nine months later, he's proposing to spend nearly 25 times the amount he denied to CeaseFire on his own anti-violence initiative.
Blagojevich's proposal includes summer-job and after-school programs as well as neighborhood revitalization efforts. Spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said CeaseFire and other community programs will be able to apply for funding under the plan, which will require major new sources of revenue.
OK, but how many more people will be shot while they quarrel about this in Springfield?
For now, the senate needs to pass House Bill 4170, a proposal to double CeaseFire's former annual appropriation to $12.5 million.
For more on the debate over CeaseFire, see our recent posts on the topic.
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