Capital

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Quinn’s wrong targets

In an editorial about Governor Quinn’s proposed cuts to the Illinois budget, the Chicago Tribune strongly commended the Civic Federation’s analysis of the state’s FY2010 budget, saying it has “produced solid recommendations for saving billions of dollars in state spending.”

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State of Illinois FY2010 Recommended Operating and Capital Budgets

The Civic Federation's Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability produced this analysis of the proposed FY2010 Illinois operating and capital budgets. The Civic Federation does not support the proposed operating budget because it raises taxes without fixing the state's structural deficit. If significant pension and employee healthcare reforms are implemented, the Federation could support a smaller income tax increase targeted at reducing the state's existing obligations in the areas of…

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A Fiscal Roadmap for Creating a Sustainable State Budget: Actionable Recommendations for Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly

The Civic Federation's Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability produced this guide for addressing the state's FY2010 budget. The roadmap provides an in-depth outline of best practices for a budget that would confront the state's growing fiscal crisis, including the areas of state spending, revenue, pensions, employee and retiree health insurance, Medicaid, capital, and asset sales.

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2009 Federal Economic Stimulus Package and Proposed Federal Infrastructure Spending in Illinois

This issue brief and position statement reviews President-Elect Obama and Congressional leaders' proposed federal stimulus package. The Civic Federation supports a federal infrastructure plan that aims to create jobs as a countercyclical economic measure to combat recessionary trends. We are concerned, however, that the State of Illinois is ill-equipped to participate in the process of securing the federal infrastructure funds.

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Toll Increase Opposition

The Civic Federation opposed a toll increase by the Illinois Toll Highway Authority. No increase should be considered before the implementation of reforms including improved toll enforcement, congestion management strategies and independent verification of the Authority's revenues, road conditions, and management.

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High-Speed Rail for Chicago and the Midwest

This study provides a review of existing research on Midwestern high-speed rail, an analysis of high-seed rail projects in other nations and examines future developments in rail transportation.