Illinois State Museum closes to public
Most layoffs postponed as legal battle looms
BUDGET | Patrick Yeagle
The Illinois State Museum was scheduled to close to the public after Wednesday, but staff whose layoffs have been postponed by a lawsuit are still expected to work.
The closure to the public is a prelude to closing the museum system entirely, a highly controversial move pursued by Gov. Bruce Rauner and strongly opposed by museum staff and unions.
The proposal to close the museum system was announced earlier this year, part of a package of contentious cuts Rauner is seeking to the state budget. Rauner, a Republican, vetoed several appropriations bills passed by the Illinois General Assembly, but despite a supposedly veto-proof Democratic majority in both chambers, the Illinois House has been unable to muster enough votes to override most of Rauner’s vetos. The House and Senate Democratic majorities refuse to pass several anti-union laws Rauner is pushing as part of the budget process, leaving the state with no budget. That has crippled social service providers and put the popular Illinois State Museum on the chopping block.
The Springfield staff of the Illinois State Museum, and its Research and Collection Center at 11 th and Ash streets in Springfield, were due to be laid off on Sept. 30, but the union members of the staff received a stay of execution on Sept. 18. Anders Lindall, spokesman for AFSCME Council 31, said the union was notified by the Rauner administration that the layoffs would be delayed until litigation over state cuts is resolved. The lawsuit in question started as a motion to make the state issue employee paychecks, but it has since been amended to include layoffs and state employee health insurance claims, which the state stopped paying earlier this month.
Museum employees contacted by Illinois Times said they could not comment.
Speaking before the museum’s closure, Chris Young, spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, said the non-union managerial staff of the museum will still be laid off and the museum would still close at the end of the day on Sept. 30. The employees who have not been laid off will continue their work, Young said, despite the museum being closed to the public.
“At Illinois State Museum facilities, curators will be continuing their work with the museum collections,” he said. “Scientific research also will continue. Educators will begin planning future programming.”
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, a bipartisan legislative panel tasked with overseeing state facility closures, held a hearing in July to examine Rauner’s proposal to shut down the museum system. The Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the museum system, told COGFA that the museum’s $6.3 million annual budget would be cut $4.8 million by reducing the 68-member staff to only three people who would secure and maintain the museum’s various facilities around the state.
The meeting raised several issues, such as the true fiscal and cultural cost of closing the museum system, the unrealistic plan to have only three employees maintain the facilities, and the potential for the state to violate federal law regarding the care of Native American remains.
COGFA voted 7-2 in August against closing the museum system. The vote is only a recommendation, however, leaving the final decision with Rauner. COGFA recommended instead that the museum develop relationships with universities to improve marketing, while also charging a nominal admission fee to offset costs. The panel estimated that charging a $1 to $2 admission fee would bring in between $387,000 and $774, 000, which represents between six and 12 percent of the museum’s annual budget.
Senate Bill 317, legislation to keep the museum open, awaits a vote in the Illinois House after passing the Illinois Senate 40-9 in August. It has support in the House from several Democratic and Republican representatives.
Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].
