Civic Federation President Laurence Msall was a guest on Milt Rosenberg’s “Extension 720” program with the Better Government Association’s Andy Shaw. Mr. Msall discussed the City of Chicago’s finances and other topics.
This editorial discusses the effect that an increase to the State of Illinois’ taxes may have on businesses. The Civic Federation says that if the State goes through its plan to borrow money to pay into its pension systems and pay off overdue bills in addition to imposing the tax increase, the State could increase its debt by one-third.
In this news segment about the State of Illinois’ plans to raise revenue through a tax increase, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says that raising taxes without making budget cuts does not fix the State’s fiscal problems. Mr. Msall adds that the State could see its structural deficit grow in several years.
This article discusses concerns in the bond market that the State of Illinois’ recent tax increase does not do enough to correct the State’s precarious finances. The Civic Federation says the bond market is especially concerned with Illinois’ debt load.
This editorial about the recent State of Illinois income tax increase, which includes an annual cap on spending, mentions a Civic Federation suggestion that the State should spend less than the cap and only up to available revenues.
In this segment of the "Chicago Tonight" news program, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall participates in a roundtable discussion about the State of Illinois' passage of a large income tax increase package.
In the last hours of the 96th Illinois General Assembly, on January 11, 2011, the legislature took significant action on the State’s budget by passing a bill to increase personal income tax rates from 3% to 5% and corporate income tax rates from 4.8% to 7%. Governor Quinn signed the measure on January 13. The income tax increases, combined with legislation authorizing borrowing of approximately $4 billion to make the State’s annual contributions to its retirement systems, are expected to cover…
On January 13, 2011, the Civic Federation sent this letter to Governor Quinn urging him to sign Senate Bill 3778. Click here to read a Civic Federation blog post on the bill. Dear Governor Quinn: The Civic Federation urges you to sign Senate Bill 3778, a bill that will end the Seniors Ride Free program. This program has strained the resources of public transit agencies while allowing seniors who can afford to pay their fair share the ability to ride for free. SB3778 will limit free rides…
On February 14 Governor Quinn signed into law Public Act 096-1527 which effectively ended the Seniors Ride Free program instituted by former Governor Rod Blagojevich and restricts free ride eligibility only to low-income seniors. The Civic Federation commends the Governor and General Assembly for taking this action. As detailed in the blog post below, the Seniors Ride Free program has proven to be a major revenue drain for transit agencies across Illinois. As this article reports, transit…
As part of the Cook County Modernization Report, the Civic Federation examined the County’s revenue and tax structure. Cook County is the only county in Illinois to have home rule status, which gives it considerable taxing flexibility. One of the report’s key revenue findings is that there has been a significant change in Cook County’s tax revenue structure. Nationwide, property taxes are the largest source of own-source revenues for counties.[1] Historically, the property tax has been…
