Amid the frenzied activity at the end of the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session, a little-noticed tax on health insurers is expected to have a major impact on the State’s FY2020 budget. The new tax on managed care organizations (MCOs) is expected to bring in nearly $1.1 billion in additional federal Medicaid revenues, according to estimates by Illinois officials. The extra federal dollars will be used to cover about $500 million in existing Medicaid costs and to support almost $600…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this report. AT A GLANCE This report explores the history and repercussions of the significant accumulation of cases at the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) and offers recommendations for improving operations at the Board. SUMMARY The Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) is one of two property tax appeal options available to property owners and taxing districts after a county’s Board of Review. While…
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s FY2020 budget features an array of revenue-raising proposals, such as recreational cannabis and sports betting, that have attracted considerable attention. Another idea is less flashy but just as important to next year’s budget: a tax on health insurance plans. As outlined by the Governor, the tax on managed care organizations (MCOs) would generate $390 million to be used in place of general operating funds to pay for State Medicaid costs. The tax would also result in…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. SUMMARY Amid one of the longest economic expansions in U.S. history, the State of Illinois still faces daunting fiscal challenges. The list includes chronic operating deficits, a multi-billion dollar backlog of unpaid bills, crushing public pension costs and five consecutive years of population loss. Illinois has the lowest credit rating of any state and is ranked as one of the worst…
Following an unexpected influx of income tax revenues in April 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has dropped a controversial proposal to delay funding for the State’s financially troubled pension funds. The pension holiday, proposed in the Governor’s budget for the fiscal year that starts on July 1, 2019, was intended to save about $878 million through a seven-year extension of the statutory deadline for achieving 90% funding. The pension savings were a key part of Governor Pritzker’s plan…
It has been ten years since Illinois’ last major capital bill, but a new one may come as soon as next month. Whether any bill that emerges adequately addresses Illinois’ capital needs depends on whether the General Assembly and…
A Civic Federation blog post last week raised questions about the revenue estimate attached to Governor J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax plan. After the post was published, the Governor’s Office released an explanation of the methodology used to arrive at the estimate. The new information shows how the plan could bring in $3.4 billion of additional revenue by raising effective tax rates on fewer than 3% of tax filers while lowering rates slightly for the remaining 97%. Key to this result…
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s first budget proposal for the State of Illinois faced major challenges, including an operating deficit that the new administration estimated at $3.2 billion. Closing the gap by implementing a graduated income tax—a centerpiece of the Governor’s election campaign—was off the table in fiscal year 2020 because of the lengthy process required to amend the Illinois Constitution. Instead, the FY2020 recommended budget, which was issued on February 20, 2019, relies on $…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this report. AT A GLANCE Prior to the release of the Governor’s annual budget recommendation, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation releases an analysis of the State of Illinois’ fiscal condition. This report presents the Civic Federation’s multi-year plan to stabilize Illinois’ finances. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The State of Illinois FY2020 Roadmap describes the State of…
During this decade of financial difficulties, the State of Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills has become an important indicator of its fiscal condition, relied on by policymakers, rating agencies, taxpayers and journalists. Now two different ways of measuring the backlog have begun to diverge. One showed the backlog at $7.91 billion as of December 31, 2018. The other measure indicated a backlog of $7.15 billion on the same date. The $755 million discrepancy relates to employee health insurance…
