In this joint column, Dennis Byrne and Eric Zorn discuss the origins and severity of Illinois’ fiscal crisis. Both columnists cite from the Civic Federation’s “Fiscal Rehabilitation Plan for the State of Illinois” to illustrate some of the possible solutions.
In this news segment about the inability of Illinois legislators to pass a FY2011 budget, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says that Illinois cannot afford to borrow to fill the State’s budget deficit and that many of the budget proposals floated so far do not make adequate cuts.
In a roundtable discussion about the Illinois Legislature’s budget negotiations on this segment of the “Chicago Tonight” news program, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said that the likelihood of a balanced budget being passed is slim. He also said the State’s delays in delivering its promised appropriations has put extreme pressure on service providers and local municipalities.
In this column about the options available to the State of Illinois to help fix its $13 billion budget deficit and the difficulty in reducing spending while also preserving government programs, Eric Zorn quotes the Civic Federation as saying that it is unable to identify any major programs the State has cut in the past 2 ½ years.
Don Wade and Roma interview Civic Federation President Laurence Msall about the Illinois budget crisis.
This article discusses the reasons why the Civic Federation opposed Governor Quinn’s proposed FY2011 budget, such as the budget’s inadequate spending cuts and lack of significant pension program reforms.
Governor Pat Quinn and his Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) appear to have different estimates of how much the State would save under the Governor’s proposal to require all state retirees to pay a share of their health insurance premiums. In announcing the Governor’s recommended FY2011 budget, his staff said that the State would save about $255 million by limiting the State’s share of each retiree’s premiums to $300 a month. Under Illinois law, the State currently pays all…
The Chicago School Finance Authority (SFA) is scheduled to be officially dissolved on June 1, 2010. The SFA is a separate unit of government created in 1980 by the Illinois General Assembly and charged with “promoting the financial integrity” of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) (see the School Finance Authority statute, 105 ILCS 5/34A). In the wake of CPS’s 1979/1980 financial crisis, the Authority was directed to exercise financial control over and furnish financial assistance to the Chicago…
Despite the General Assembly’s goal to pass a budget for FY2011 and adjourn by May 7, 2010, legislators headed home after the session ended with no budget and no clear path out of the State’s current woeful financial situation. Although multiple appropriations bills, revenue bills, pension borrowing plans and emergency budget bills were deliberated and voted on in both houses of the legislature, none was sent to the Governor. Now with roughly six weeks left in the fiscal year it is still…
On May 11, Governor Quinn vetoed Senate Bill 0365, a bill that would have limited but not eliminated legislative scholarships. His veto message states that he cannot condone a program that provides student assistance regardless of need or merit but relies instead on the favor of a legislator. Governor Quinn recommends that the General Assembly pass House Bill 4685, which would eliminate the legislative scholarship program effective June 1, 2010. Each of the 177 members of the Illinois General…
