With two weeks left to go before the Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, two budget plans for FY2013 are on the table: Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended budget and an alternative budget framework approved by the Illinois House. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May 31, 2012. Bills voted on after that date require three-fifths majority to pass, rather than a simple…
This article discusses a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would extend the life of special taxing districts, or enterprise zones, created to stimulate business growth in blighted areas throughout the State. The Civic Federation says the lack of transparency in tracking companies that benefit from the zones makes it difficult for the Legislature and general public to properly assess…
On May 1, 2012, the Civic Federation announced its support for Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2013 budget recommendation based on an analysis by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability (IIFS), the Federation’s State government research arm. This marked the first time that the Federation has supported a Governor’s budget proposal since it founded IIFS in 2008 to expand its State budget research…
This article discusses Illinois fiscal crisis and the Civic Federation’s support for Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2013 proposed budget. Illinois’ already low credit rating could face further downgrades if the current legislative session doesn’t produce sensible reforms that match the magnitude of Illinois’ fiscal problems. The Civic Federation is calling on the Illinois General Assembly to approve the…
(The full text of this article is avalible only to the publication's subscribers.) This article summarizes the Civic Federation’s FY2013 State of Illinois Recommended Budget Analysis, which supports Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed budget as the first budget since the crisis began to offer real solutions to the State’s financial problems. It highlights the Civic Federation’s concern that more…
This Greg Hinz column covers the Civic Federation’s FY2013 State of Illinois Recommended Budget Analysis. The Federation supports the proposed budget because it acknowledges the depth of the State’s financial problems and introduces major reforms that would put Illinois finances on the road to recovery.
(CHICAGO) In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability supports Governor Quinn’s proposed budget for FY2013. The $57.4 billion budget proposal acknowledges the depth of the State’s financial problems and would put Illinois finances on the road to recovery with major structural reforms to the State’s Medicaid program and pension systems. This…
The Civic Federation supports Governor Pat Quinn’s $57.4 billion FY2013 recommended operating budget, because it acknowledges the depth of the State’s financial problems and would put Illinois finances on the road to recovery with major structural reforms to the State’s Medicaid program and pension systems. The Governor’s proposed FY2013 budget makes several important steps toward Illinois’…
A key component of Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal to close the State of Illinois’ $2.7 billion Medicaid funding gap in FY2013 is an increase in the State’s cigarette tax. The Governor projects that a $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax, to $1.98, would bring $337.5 million in new revenues to the State to pay for Medicaid expenses. Medicaid spending is reimbursed by the federal government at a…
The Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) has concluded that it can no longer rely on the State to follow the law for funding its five retirement systems and that sweeping changes are needed to sustain the pension funds. On March 30, 2012, the TRS Board of Trustees approved a resolution stating that “the fiscal situation of the State has deteriorated to the point that the…
