The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2012 include public pension reform, requiring the State of Illinois to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, dissolving the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, requiring all counties to hold budget hearings and large counties to produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform, requiring school financial management…
A proposed package of tax incentives currently being considered by the Illinois General Assembly includes eliminating tax relief known as “bonus depreciation” already provided to businesses for 2011 through a federal tax change that the State currently conforms to. Among other provisions, Senate Bill 397 provides tax credits to specific companies that have publicly stated they are considering leaving the state and an increase in the earned income tax credit (EITC) from 5% to 10% in 2012 and 15…
The State of Illinois’ new commission tasked with improving the State’s budget process recently published its first annual report with substantive recommendations for implementation of performance based budgeting for the State and guidance for the next steps in the process. The Budgeting for Results Commission was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn in August 2011 and has spent the last several months studying the state budget and taking testimony from budget experts, agency directors and members…
The Illinois General Assembly is expected to take up a host of budget-related bills during its veto session, which opened on October 25, 2011. During the veto session, the General Assembly considers bills vetoed by the Governor. The legislature also considers bills that it had not acted on when the spring session adjourned, but only if they progressed far enough in the legislative process to meet specified deadlines or had been granted waivers from the deadlines. This year’s veto session runs…
Faced with mounting pension costs, the State of Illinois and a number of other states are considering moving away from traditional pension plans. In traditional pension plans, formally called defined benefit (DB) plans, employers are responsible for a specified level of benefits at retirement, typically based on an employee’s earnings, length of service or both. In 401(k)-type plans, formally called defined contribution (DC) plans, employers are responsible for specified contributions but do…
The State of Illinois will take public testimony this week on the goals, priorities and performance measures that are being developed as part of an ongoing effort to reform the State’s annual budget process. As previously described here, the State began a process known as Budgeting for Results in the fall of 2010 in preparation for the FY2012 budget. Under the statutory requirements passed as part of the FY2011 budget, a Budgeting for Results Commission was formed to advise the Governor in…
The Illinois General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) began holding public hearings on October 5, 2011 on Governor Quinn’s proposal to close seven state facilities. COGFA is required under the State Facilities Closure Act (30 ILCS 608) to hold public hearings on the proposed closing of prisons, youth centers and centers for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. The Act also requires COGFA to issue an advisory opinion on each proposed closure.…
Entering the third year of the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program, the State’s capital revenue sources are still well below the anticipated debt coverage needed to pay for the more than $16 billion in bond funded projects already approved. In July 2009, along with a massive package of capital appropriations, the State passed a package of revenue ehancements to support the spending then estimated to be worth between $943 million and $1.2 billion annually. However, at the end of FY2011 these…
This report examines the State of Illinois’ operating and capital budgets as enacted for Fiscal Year 2012, which began on July 1, 2011 and ends on June 30, 2012. Despite a major income tax increase implemented in January 2011, the total General Funds deficit is projected to grow in FY2012 and the State continues to deal with its financial problems by delaying payments to vendors and local governments. Read the press release here.
The Illinois State Comptroller’s Office recently issued its annual report on tax expenditures. The report is published pursuant to a provision of the State Comptroller Act (15 ILCS 405/16) that requires the Comptroller’s Office to collect tax expenditure information reported by state agencies. A tax expenditure is defined in the State Comptroller Act as any exemption, exclusion, deduction, allowance, credit, preferential tax rate, abatement or other device that reduces the amount of tax…
