Illinois residents needing to see a therapist are waiting an average of three months in Macomb, a small city in Central Illinois.
That's according to Kenny Boyd, president of the McDonough District Hospital in Macomb. He says his hospital has seen a 70 percent increase in patients seeking mental health treatment in the area because -- thanks to the state budget stalemate -- another provider closed one of its locations.
Boyd tells lawmakers a plan that would give Governor Bruce Rauner extraodrinary authority to cut the budget unilaterally could make access to health care worse ... because it could make way for more cuts to mental health funding.
"While I understand that the bill does not dictate what the governor can do, but gives options, there is nothing requiring the reductions were to be applied by the executive uniformly or in a balanced method."
Democrats oppose the measure too.
Rauner says he wants the power so he can balance the budget.
The governor has refused to work with Democrats on a spending plan until they help pass his ideas for long-term growth. Democrats continue to say Rauner's solutions will instead hurt the economy.
