The multiplicity of local units of government, many of which are funded predominantly by property taxes, is often cited as a reason for high property tax rates in Illinois. Local government consolidation, cooperation and dissolution has therefore become a focus for many government leaders and civic groups as a way to reduce duplication and the cost of government. This is particularly true at a time when local governments are facing severe revenue shortfalls as a result of the coronavirus…
Recently, Cook County, the State of Illinois and other jurisdictions across the U.S. have begun to implement policy changes to reduce reliance on monetary bail and release more individuals while awaiting trial. These changes come amid a national push to make the criminal justice system more fair and reduce the number of criminal defendants held in jail pretrial based on their inability to pay bail. The federal system in Washington, D.C. eliminated cash bail in the 1990s. In the move away from a…
UPDATE: On February 22, 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 3653 Senate Amendment 2 into law as Public Act 101-0652 – dubbed the SAFE-T Act (Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity – Today). In December 2022, a series of amendments to the SAFE-T Act were passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed by the Governor into Public Act 102-1104. For a summary of the amendments to the SAFE-T Act, see the Civic Federation’s summary here. On January 13, 2021 in the final…
UPDATE: In the final hours of the lame duck session on January 13, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation providing for spending up to $150 million annually through fiscal year 2027 to modernize safety net hospitals. Senate Bill 1510, as amended, is similar to the transformation funding proposal described below by the State’s Medicaid agency. A new provision would allow for the creation of a category of safety net institutions that would be eligible for priority funding. Last May the…
UPDATE: The $900 billion relief bill passed by Congress on December 21 did not provide more financial assistance for state and local governments, but it did extend for about one year the deadline for using the Coronavirus Relief Fund money discussed in this blog post. The spending deadline is now December 31, 2021 instead of December 30, 2020. State and local governments had been racing to use the money because unspent funds must be returned to the U.S. Treasury. Local governments in…
Illinois has lost less tax revenue than expected this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the State still faces a significant budget gap, according to the latest official projection. The Governor’s annual economic and fiscal policy report, issued on November 13, raised the projection for the current year’s general operating revenues by $2.2 billion from the July forecast. However, even with the additional revenue the State projects a budget deficit of $3.9 billion in fiscal 2021, which ends…
Earlier in 2020 the Civic Federation released a series of three blog posts discussing various aspects of the proposal to amend the Illinois Constitution to allow a graduated income tax and the proposed rate structure. Those posts have been among the most viewed in the history of civicfed.org, clearly responding to a need for independent and dependable information on the proposal. The Federation collected those posts together and added additional analysis over the following months to create the…
Click here to read the full issue brief. Click here to read a press release for this issue brief. SUMMARY More than 50 years after Illinois began taxing residents’ income, voters on November 3, 2020 will decide whether the structure of the income tax should undergo a major change. The issue is highly controversial, and the decision will have a long-lasting impact on the State’s finances and its taxpayers. Since Illinois’ income tax was adopted in 1969, the State has had a flat income tax.…
The State of Illinois’ FY2020 fourth quarter revenue report contained a surprising result for two of the State of Illinois’ three main revenue sources, which came in higher than had been projected during the spring. Specifically, net sales tax revenue collections were $252 million higher than revised projections and net personal income tax projections were $372 million higher.[1] Given the ongoing economic dislocations related to the pandemic and restrictions on economic activity, this was a…
The General Assembly enacted an approximately $49.2 billion capital budget on May 24, 2020.[1] Spending proposed in the capital budget includes funding from the State, grants from the federal government and local matching funds. The multi-year capital budget was initially approved in 2019 as the Build Illinois capital plan; this action provides annual appropriation authority for capital project spending to proceed. Unlike the State’s annual General Funds budget, which is intended to cover only…
