SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois budget crisis - once an abstraction of numbers on balance sheets in Springfield - gets real today.

More than 80 state employees now are officially off the government payroll, with many others jumping to different state jobs as part of a round of layoffs and reassignments. Nearly 20 state parks and historic sites will close their gates for the last time today, as the state struggles with rising costs and declining revenues.

"We're losing history," lamented Jeff Winter, a site technician at St. Clair County's Cahokia Courthouse historic site, as he prepared last week to move to another state job.

Vandalia Statehouse and Lincoln Log Cabin near Charleston are among historic sites to close. On the parks closure list are Hidden Springs State Forrest, Strasburg; Moraine View State Park, LeRoy; Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton; and Wolf Creek State Park, Windsor.

The shuttered state facilities and laid-off workers are the most visible effects of state financial problems that have been building for years and have been exacerbated by the global economic crisis.

"Take a look around - this is doomsday," said Anders Lindall, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents workers laid off from the state's historic preservation, natural resources and human services agencies.

Elsewhere in the state, drivers continue to navigate a crumbling highway system. State fees collected for licensing and other special purposes have been used to cover other expenses. Hospitals, pharmacists and human-service providers continue to struggle with perpetually late state payments.

"Politicians are fond of criticizing deadbeat parents who refuse to meet their obligations, but state government is becoming the biggest deadbeat of all," said the Rev. Frederick Aigner, president of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.

He decried the state's almost $9 million in unpaid reimbursements to the organization for family and community service work.

"If the state doesn't move quickly, we and many others across Illinois are going to be forced to make drastic cuts in services that will hurt every community in the state," Aigner said.

The state's problems are partly the result of the same economic crisis affecting the nation and the world today. Markets are down, income is dropping or unsteady and the state's revenue collection has become unpredictable.

Neighboring Missouri is not immune to such problems. The state appears headed for the worst downturn in revenue since 2003, when tax collections plummeted nearly 5 percent and spurred deep cuts, especially in education funding. Observers say Gov.-elect Jay Nixon will be faced with tough budget choices after he takes office in January.

Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes' office recently announced the state is $4 billion behind in paying nursing homes, state contractors and others, with a roughly 12-week backlog, because cash flow into state coffers has slowed.

"We're waiting on revenue every day. The bills come in and you have to take your place in line," said Alan Henry, of the comptroller's office, which processes state bills for payment. "Think about your paycheck: You have five utility bills in your drawer, but you can't pay them until your paycheck gets there."

As of last week, the backlog totaled more than 233,000 vouchers to the state, from people or entities entitled to payment.

Hynes warned earlier this month that "these record-setting payment delays pose a serious danger to the solvency and operations of any institutions that depend on state funding," especially with the national credit crunch making it more difficult for those institutions to borrow money until their state checks arrive.

In addition to the $4 billion backlog in bills caused by the state's cash-flow shortage, there is a structural budget deficit that Gov. Rod Blagojevich puts at $2 billion. The administration maintains that's the amount of overspending that the legislature sent to him in the 2009 budget that isn't covered by the state's roughly $59 billion in projected annual state revenue.

At places such as Copper Bend Pharmacy in Belleville, the payment delays have hit especially close to home.

"It's the worst I've ever seen it," owner Steve Clement said. The state is at least three months behind in making Medicaid payments to his pharmacy, he said. "We have to pay our suppliers twice a month. (The state) can pay us whenever they want."

"You either have to have a lot of cash, or a lot of credit," he added. "We're a small pharmacy; we don't have the deep pockets like the large chains."

The political climate in Springfield has worsened the situation, many believe. Blagojevich and other Democrats who run the legislature have been locked in a battle of wills over state spending and priorities.

Blagojevich has been pushing for more health care spending, but he has refused to consider boosting the state's flat rate 3 percent income tax.

"Without serious action, it will only get worse," said Lindall, the AFSCME spokesman. "Natural revenue growth has not kept pace with even basic inflationary increases in the cost of state services. All of that has been compounded by a once-in-a-lifetime economic downturn."

The union is backing a proposal that would raise the individual state income tax to 5 percent, though few expect the idea to go anywhere, given Blagojevich's staunch opposition.

kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com|782-4912