Several recently enacted laws are designed to increase public access to information about the State of Illinois’ budget and improve other aspects of the State’s budget process. The following table lists budget-related legislation signed by…
To support construction projects during the busy summer months, the State of Illinois issued $2.0 billion of capital purpose debt, which for the most part will be repaid from the State’s Capital Projects Fund. The Fund was created to…
At the end of the month, the Board of Education for Chicago Public Schools will vote on the District’s $5.6 billion operating budget for FY2014. The total budget of $6.6 billion is supported by local, state and federal revenues and other…
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the bond ratings for seven of the nine public universities in Illinois on August 9, 2013. The ratings include a negative outlook for all of the institutions.The action from Moody’s comes after a review…
The scheduled rollout of Medicaid managed care in Illinois has been delayed by six months so hospitals can set up their own healthcare networks for Medicaid patients. The new networks, known as Accountable Care Entities (ACEs), are…
As the State of Illinois enters the fifth year of its $31-billion Illinois Jobs Now! capital spending program, revenue sources approved to fund the projects are still lagging far behind original projections. Revenues deposited in the…
The following opinion piece by Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was published by…
On July 22, 2013, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation to allow Illinois to expand its Medicaid program under the…
An increase in the cigarette tax increase designed to provide additional funding for the Illinois Medicaid program generated more revenues than expected despite a drop in sales and hoarding of tax stamps prior to the effective date of the…
Charged with finding a solution to the State of Illinois’ pension crisis, a legislative conference committee is considering a reform framework proposed by public university presidents. The central feature of the…
