SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - An ad campaign that began last night is begging Illinois lawmakers not to cut home care and child care services funding to the bone. 

The latest ad campaign by SEIU Healthcare Illinois includes television, radio and print ads as well as billboards in the Springfield area that soon will likely spread to the rest of the state.

Watch the TV ad and see the billboard here.

The TV ad shows a picture of a lean steak that the union, which represents healthcare and child care workers, contends is like Illinois’ lean budget–no fat left to be cut to plug the $12.6 billion budget shortfall. 

The only option left, the ad says, is cutting funding for vital home care services for children, seniors and people with disabilities.

“We very much recognize the tough budget situation the state is in,” said Brynn Seibert, communications director for the group.  “It is very clear this is not a budget hole we can cut our way out of without devastating consequences for Illinois families.”

Seibert said her group is part of a broader coalition, Campaign for Illinos’ Future, that supports an income tax increase to help fill the budget gap rather than cutting programs and services.

The Campaign for Illinois’ Future has planned a rally here at the Capitol on Wednesday morning to push for an income tax increase.

Gov. Pat Quinn proposed raising the personal income tax from 3 percent to 4.5 percent in his budget address last month.  He would also triple the personal exemption, the money you can deduct from your taxable income, from $2,000 to $6,000.  

Quinn said this will minimize the impact of a tax increase on lower-income families.