This blog post examines the City of Chicago’s long-term liabilities. It includes a review of trends in the City’s long-term governmental and business-type activities, liabilities, debt service trends and a discussion of its tax-supported long-term debt and recent credit rating changes.
The following news items cover the release of the Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation's analysis of the State of Illinois FY2019 Recommended Operating Budget. The Federation could not support Governor Bruce Rauner’s recommended budget because it is precariously balanced and its modest surplus relies on aggressive assumptions. Additionally, the proposal does little to address Illinois’ massive backlog of bills. ----- Chicago Sun-Times: Civic…
Click here to read the full report. The Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability is not able to support Governor Bruce Rauner’s recommended FY2019 budget because it is precariously balanced and its modest surplus relies on aggressive assumptions. Additionally, the proposal does little to address Illinois’ massive backlog of bills. While the Civic Federation is encouraged by the improved financial condition of the State, Illinois still faces severe fiscal problems,…
Surveys show that Americans are divided in their views of the Affordable Care Act. With the incoming administration in Washington vowing to dismantle the federal healthcare law, this blog post examines Illinois’ expansion of the Medicaid program under the act. Medicaid expansion was a key feature of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), designed to reduce the number of people without health insurance. While much of the debate about the 2010 law has focused on its insurance marketplaces, the Medicaid…
This segment reports on the State of Illinois paying more than $900 million in penalties for late bill payments in the past six years, which is highlighted in the Civic Federation’s recent analysis of Governor Rauner’s FY2017 proposed budget. Laurence Msall, President of the Civic Federation, remarks that spending almost a billion dollars on penalties is basically fiscal mismanagement and notes that the money could have funded many other Illinois programs.
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 three-year plan to stabilize Illinois’ finances and addresses the State’s critical financial situation. More than seven months into the current fiscal year, the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget. Under current revenue…
(CHICAGO) – In a report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability proposes a comprehensive three-year plan that addresses Illinois’ ongoing financial crisis with painful but necessary spending limits and revenue enhancements. The full 55-page report is available here. More than seven months into the current fiscal year, the State of Illinois continues to operate without a budget. However, virtually all of the State’s projected FY2016 revenues will be…
A new report by Governor Bruce Rauner’s administration projects that the State of Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills could grow to $25.0 billion in FY2019 from $4.4 billion in FY2015 based on current tax and spending policies. The three-year forecast, issued on January 6, 2016, covers FY2017 through FY2019. It also includes actual budget results for FY2015, which ended on June 30, 2015, and estimated results for FY2016, which began on July 1, 2015. The projected growth in unpaid bills is not…
As Illinois enters the sixth month of fiscal year 2016 without a budget, the backlog of unpaid group health insurance bills has reached more than $2 billion and is likely to grow much larger. In the absence of an FY2016 budget, the group health insurance program is one of the major areas of State government for which there appears to be no legal authority to pay the bills. Nevertheless, the program’s costs must be paid eventually because of State law and union contracts. When the overdue bills…
The Illinois Supreme Court’s recent ruling on health insurance for State retirees is expected to increase State costs by approximately $128 million through FY2015, according to the Department of Central Management Services. Although litigation is ongoing, the high court’s decision apparently means the State will bear the cost of health insurance premium increases previously charged to retirees. Officials at the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) said that those premiums amounted…
