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. The FY2014 Roadmap includes a review of Governor Quinn’s three-year budget plan, a rough five-year budget projection for FY2014 to FY2018 and recommendations for the Governor and General Assembly to improve the state’s financial condition. The analysis shows the State on track to accumulate…
After months of uncertainty, the date of Governor Pat Quinn’s budget address for FY2014 was officially postponed through action by the Governor on the same day it was originally required by law to be delivered. Although the later date of March 6, 2013 has been included on the General Assembly’s calendars since November, the the Governor did not sign the bill amending the State Budget Law to push the day back by two weeks until earlier this week. The State Budget Law requires the…
The City of Baltimore made news last week by releasing a first-of-its-kind ten-year financial forecast. The report, commissioned from Public Financial Management, Inc. by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, highlights trends that could cause financial distress over the next decade if nothing is done to change the city’s finances. Mayor Rawlings-Blake requested the long-range forecast as part of a major ten-year financial planning effort intended to allow the city to address looming…
The State of Illinois, like other states, is faced with a decision on whether to expand its Medicaid program in 2014 under the federal Affordable Care Act. The decision in Illinois is complicated by a State law that bans such a Medicaid expansion until 2015. As discussed here, the State moratorium was lifted by the Illinois General Assembly in 2012 for the limited purpose of allowing Cook County’s public health system to gain early access to Medicaid coverage for newly eligible recipients in…
A new three-year budget projection for the State of Illinois by Governor Pat Quinn’s administration shows that significant spending reductions will be needed to balance the State budget in FY2015 and FY2016, when temporary income tax rate increases start to be phased out. Even with the projected spending cuts, the State is not expected to be able to make much progress in reducing its enormous backlog of unpaid bills. Due to the reduced income tax revenue and continued growth in pension…
The 97th Illinois General Assembly’s closing session ended on January 9, 2013, leaving many questions unresolved about the State’s current budget year and fiscal sustainability in the face of its $97 billion unfunded pension liability. At the end of each two-year legislative session, all of the bills not passed by both chambers of the General Assembly are cleared from the legislative agenda. Legislation must be filed under new bill numbers and the deliberative process must begin again in…
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) is a special-purpose government providing wastewater treatment for residents and industrial businesses primarily in Cook County. The budget process for the MWRD differs from the budget processes of other northeastern Illinois governments. The District produces three versions of its budget which include, in order of release, the Executive Director’s Recommendations, the Tentative Budget and the Adopted Budget (also referred to as the As Adopted…
(The full content of this article is only available to the publication’s subscribers.) This article discusses the Regional Transportation Authority’s delay in voting on the Chicago Transit Authority’s proposed 2013 budget and request for additional information on the CTA’s proposed $1 billion borrowing plan. The Civic Federation supported the CTA’s FY2013 budget, its first structurally balanced budget in seven years.
Throughout this year’s Illinois budget negotiations, the IIFS blog was a valuable source of information and focus in the State’s murky and complex budget process. This year’s negotiations included a groundbreaking effort to address the Medicaid funding gap, new pension reform proposals and yet another downgrade to the State’s credit rating. Budget Negotiations The Institute started the year with a report projecting an alarming increase in the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. The report was…
A look back at the Civic Federation’s blog this year provides a preview of upcoming fiscal challenges for local governments in 2013. Pension Funding The most urgent fiscal challenge for Illinois governments continues to be the pension funding crisis. The combined funded ratio for the four City of Chicago pension funds fell to 43.3% in FY2011. The funded status of the Cook County Pension Fund also fell in FY2011 to 57.5%. The County’s fund was over 90% funded as recently as FY2000. The…
