On May 1, 2012, the Civic Federation announced its support for Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2013 budget recommendation based on an analysis by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability (IIFS), the Federation’s State government research arm. This marked the first time that the Federation has supported a Governor’s budget proposal since it founded IIFS in 2008 to expand its State budget research capacity. IIFS research is supported by grant funding from the MacArthur Foundation. The Institute…
This article discusses Illinois fiscal crisis and the Civic Federation’s support for Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2013 proposed budget. Illinois’ already low credit rating could face further downgrades if the current legislative session doesn’t produce sensible reforms that match the magnitude of Illinois’ fiscal problems. The Civic Federation is calling on the Illinois General Assembly to approve the Governor's pension and Medicaid reform plans or identify reasonable alternatives.
(The full text of this article is avalible only to the publication's subscribers.) This article summarizes the Civic Federation’s FY2013 State of Illinois Recommended Budget Analysis, which supports Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed budget as the first budget since the crisis began to offer real solutions to the State’s financial problems. It highlights the Civic Federation’s concern that more information is needed to confirm the projected savings of the Governor’s pension plan. The Federation…
This Greg Hinz column covers the Civic Federation’s FY2013 State of Illinois Recommended Budget Analysis. The Federation supports the proposed budget because it acknowledges the depth of the State’s financial problems and introduces major reforms that would put Illinois finances on the road to recovery.
(CHICAGO) In a new report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability supports Governor Quinn’s proposed budget for FY2013. The $57.4 billion budget proposal acknowledges the depth of the State’s financial problems and would put Illinois finances on the road to recovery with major structural reforms to the State’s Medicaid program and pension systems. This is the first time the Institute has supported a proposed budget in four years of providing fiscal…
The Civic Federation supports Governor Pat Quinn’s $57.4 billion FY2013 recommended operating budget, because it acknowledges the depth of the State’s financial problems and would put Illinois finances on the road to recovery with major structural reforms to the State’s Medicaid program and pension systems. The Governor’s proposed FY2013 budget makes several important steps toward Illinois’ fiscal recovery. The proposal does not rely on borrowing, a departure from the State’s pattern of…
A key component of Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal to close the State of Illinois’ $2.7 billion Medicaid funding gap in FY2013 is an increase in the State’s cigarette tax. The Governor projects that a $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax, to $1.98, would bring $337.5 million in new revenues to the State to pay for Medicaid expenses. Medicaid spending is reimbursed by the federal government at a rate of 50%. The Governor expects federal reimbursements to bring in another $337.5 million,…
The Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) has concluded that it can no longer rely on the State to follow the law for funding its five retirement systems and that sweeping changes are needed to sustain the pension funds. On March 30, 2012, the TRS Board of Trustees approved a resolution stating that “the fiscal situation of the State has deteriorated to the point that the Board no longer has confidence that the State will be able to meet its existing funding obligations to…
In return for watching over District land and serving as a deterrent to crime or misuse, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County rents housing on its property to employees at drastically discounted rates through its Resident Watchmen Program. On October 28, 2011, the District announced plans to strengthen the program by implementing basic requirements for renters and increasing the fee structure of rental properties. The new fee structure makes rental properties available between 40% and 60…
The Illinois House has approved a spending plan for FY2013 that would cut the State of Illinois’ expenditures from the level proposed by Governor Pat Quinn and use an additional budget surplus to reduce the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. House Resolution 706, approved on March 29, 2012, calls for spending $32.9 billion from general operating funds in FY2013. That spending level is $858.6 million, or 2.5%, below the expenditures proposed in the Governor’s FY2013 budget. The spending plan…
