The Illinois General Assembly reconvened on June 22, 2011 for an extra day of the spring session to sort out several issues that were not addressed three weeks ago when the legislature adjourned after approving a $33.2 billion budget. Both the House and the Senate took action to reauthorize the State’s ongoing $31-billion capital program, which was first enacted in FY2010. As previously discussed here, the original capital reauthorization bill did not pass the House after the Senate added an…
In this article about how parents of disabled children are moving out of Illinois due to uncertainty about the State’s funding of social service programs, the Civic Federation says that payment uncertainty on the part of social service providers is caused in part by the state’s unwillingness to cut spending to match increased revenue.
Surprising as it may seem, not all budget cuts reduce spending. A case in point is the FY2012 Medicaid budget passed by the Illinois House on May 13, 2011. House Bill 3717 includes $6.9 billion of General Funds appropriations for the State of Illinois’ Medical Assistance Program.[1] As indicated in the chart below, the House budget is $537.3 million below Governor Pat Quinn’s proposed FY2012 General Funds Medicaid appropriation. It is also $586.2 below the appropriation passed by the Senate on…
A key component of Cook County’s plan to remake its public health system was rejected by a State of Illinois board on May 10, 2011, adding to concerns that the County might have difficulties implementing its FY2011 budget. At a meeting in Joliet, the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board (Health Facilities Board) rejected by one vote the request to end inpatient and emergency room services at Oak Forest Hospital. The Cook County Health and Hospitals System wants to turn the Oak…
The Civic Federation sent the following letter to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board in support of a plan by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System to discontinue acute-care hospital services at Oak Forest Hospital in favor of expanded outpatient care. As discussed previously on this blog, the Review Board rejected the plan by a vote of 3 to 2 on March 21, 2011. Under state law, five affirmative votes are required for passage. Currently only six members serve on the…
Cook County plans to reduce financial assistance to its Health and Hospitals System by nearly 33% this year, from $411.5 million in FY2010 to $276.3 million in FY2011. The County will face major challenges related to the Health System’s budget and Medicaid revenues. The Health System’s subsidy from the County consists mainly of tax revenues used to bridge the gap between the System’s operating revenues and expenditures. The System’s operating revenues come mostly from Medicaid, the federal-…
Concerns Remain about Independence of the Health System, Future Budgets (CHICAGO) A new Civic Federation report released today finds that Cook County has made considerable progress toward modernizing its operations, but still faces significant challenges over the next few years. The Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report is in follow up to the Federation’s October 2010 Cook County Modernization Report. The new publication assesses the progress the Preckwinkle administration has…
The Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report continues the work of our Cook County Modernization Project. This report includes detailed information on the status of all 36 recommendations from the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report (published in October 2010), as well as a dashboard rating system for recommendations that were to be implemented within the first 100 days under the leadership of Board President Preckwinkle. Cook County has made…
After three years of increasing budget deficits, the State of Illinois is expected to see a smaller budget gap at the end of FY2011 because of tax increases and expanded borrowing for operations. The FY2011 year-end deficit is currently projected to total $4.4 billion, according to Civic Federation calculations based on information in Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2012 recommended budget. That compares with a total budget gap of $6.3 billion in FY2010. The table below shows factors contributing to…
Today marks the 100th day since Toni Preckwinkle took office as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. During that time, the County has begun to implement a variety of reforms including many of the recommendations from the Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization Report. The administration released a 100-day report card this morning, which highlights what the administration considers to be its key accomplishments. The Civic Federation began its Cook County Modernization…
