The Civic Federation’s analysis of the State of Illinois FY2012 budget proposal is the focus of this article. The Federation says that the proposal, which is unbalanced, is not sustainable and does not do enough to pay off the State’s backlog of unpaid bills.
This article discusses the Civic Federation’s analysis of the State of Illinois’ FY2012 proposed budget.
The Civic Federation opposes Governor Pat Quinn’s $52.7 billion FY2012 recommended operating budget for the State of Illinois because it is unbalanced by approximately $2.4 billion and is based on the premise that long-term borrowing is the right tool to dig the State out from under its massive backlog of unpaid bills and other obligations. To the contrary, the Governor’s proposed borrowing is likely to make the State’s financial condition worse over time. Although the Civic Federation is…
(CHICAGO) A new report by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation has found that Governor Quinn’s proposed budget is unbalanced by a total of $2.4 billion when artificially inflated revenues of $970.9 million are taken into account. The 98 page analysis of the Governor’s proposed $52.7 billion FY2012 budget was released today on the Civic Federation website at www.civicfed.org. The analysis finds that the Governor’s budget overestimates revenues by $976 million…
Among the many challenges facing City of Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel when he takes office May 16 is the precarious state of the City’s finances. The City has a large and increasing direct debt load that could be a major indicator of financial risk. Long-term debt consists of tax-supported debt issues such as general obligation bonds and notes as well as bond premium and issuance costs. Long-term direct debt is a measure of a government’s ability to maintain its current financial policies…
In this news segment about the City of Chicago's budget troubles, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall explains that the City must make tough choices to create a sustainable budget. Mr. Msall was a guest on WBBM's "At Issue" weekend news program.
The Pew Center on the States recently released its report card on the health of state pension systems. Just as they were last year, the funding status of Illinois’ pension systems is the worst in the nation, with the State only funding 51% of its liabilities through FY2009. States in marginally better shape include West Virginia with 56% funding and Oklahoma at 57%. Illinois has its work cut out as it tries to restore solvency to its pension systems. Pension funding best practices recommend…
Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended FY2012 budget for the State of Illinois proposes that General Funds appropriations for the State Employees’ Group Insurance Program more than double to $1.4 billion from $695.8 million in FY2011.[1] This proposal, which reflects significant underfunding of the program in FY2011, has drawn more attention to how much the State pays for employee and retiree healthcare.[2] The State Employees’ Group Insurance Program provides medical, dental, vision and life…
This article is about the City of Chicago's plan to replenish $50 million into its reserve fund due to slightly better-than-projected tax receipts. The Civic Federation says that despite the modestly good news, the City must still fill a $500 million budget gap for next year and cope with its pension shortfalls.
Although the State of Illinois' FY2011 tax amnesty program brought in more than $700 million of delinquent tax payments owed by taxpayers and business, only $12 million of that revenue can be considered new funds. As previously discussed on this blog, the tax amnesty program approved by the Governor and General Assembly allowed payment of personal income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax owed to the State from previous years without the usual interest and penalties charged for late…
