Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed FY2012 budget for the State of Illinois features additional borrowing and an overall increase in spending, despite steep spending reductions in the area of human services. The Governor’s FY2012 budget, issued on February 16, 2011, includes total operating resources of $33.9 million and total expenditures of $35.4 billion. In order to close the operating shortfall, the Governor’s plan uses $1.45 billion of the proceeds from a proposed $8.75 billion borrowing in…
The Civic Federation supports Cook County’s $3.0 billion FY2011 Executive Budget Recommendation as it reflects a significant effort to reduce expenditures. The new County administration also appears to be on a path toward significant reform of governmental operations, as recommended by the Civic Federation in the Cook County Modernization report, which can be read here. The Civic Federation believes that the County still faces significant challenges. Although the recommended budget includes…
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 and actionable recommendations for the Governor and General Assembly for the coming fiscal year. This year the State of Illinois Budget Roadmap also includes an analysis and recommendations based on Governor Pat Quinn’s preliminary budget plans for FY2011 and three-year budget plan published…
Over the course of 2010 the IIFS blog explored a number of State of Illinois budget topics ranging from Medicaid/HMO funding issues to the State public pension system. Posts on the IIFS blog not only supplement IIFS publications, but also provide additional context and commentary to events in the news and State budget events. Posts about the State Medicaid system featured prominently on the IIFS blog. “Opposition Surfaces to Medicaid HMO Plan” from January 21, 2010 discussed resistance…
Illinois lawmakers are on a fast-track schedule to reform the State’s Medicaid program, but proposals from state officials and other experts appear to face stiff opposition. As previously discussed in this blog, the Illinois General Assembly’s review of the Medicaid program is part of a push by Democrats that began after the November 2 elections to make changes in state programs long criticized as too costly by Republicans. Bipartisan Medicaid Reform committees in the Senate and House of…
State of Illinois officials want to tighten procedures for Medicaid by using electronic data to verify eligibility—a step also viewed as crucial to deal with the surge in Medicaid enrollment expected under federal healthcare reform. On November 29, 2010, Julie Hamos, Director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), told a committee of the Illinois Senate that HFS needs to cross-check electronic data on Medicaid recipients’ income and employment to weed out ineligible…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2011 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, reinstating means-tested transit discounts for seniors, requiring large counties to hold budget hearings and produce timely annual audits, enacting tax increment financing reporting reform,…
The purpose of the Cook County Modernization Report is to provide leaders of the County with ideas for reshaping and refining County government that will improve service delivery to residents while reducing wasteful spending and decreasing reliance on taxpayer funds. The Modernization Project provides a roadmap for creating a government that is more efficient, less costly and more accountable. The report contains actionable recommendations that can be implemented in the first 100 days after the…
The State of Illinois will receive less federal Medicaid funding than it budgeted for in FY2011—but more than had been feared several months ago. After months of debate, Congress in August of 2010 passed and President Obama signed a bill extending enhanced Medicaid payments that were contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The enhanced payments, which began in October of 2008, were scheduled to expire on December 31, 2010. Under HR 1586, they will now end six…
The State of Illinois lags behind other states in the use of community care for the developmentally disabled, but a new plan would bring Illinois in line with national standards by 2017. The strategic plan for FY2011 to FY2017, issued by the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) of the Illinois Department of Human Services, aims to provide care in community settings rather than large institutions. The plan sets 2017 as the target date for reducing the number of people living in…
