On January 11, 2012, the State of Illinois sold $800 million of General Obligation bonds to support capital projects. The bond offering included $525 million of tax-exempt bonds, as well as $275 million…
This panel discussion tackles recent changes to hours at the Chicago Public Library system. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said that reductions to city services are a necessary part of eliminating Chicago’s deficit. Mr. Msall is…
Governor Pat Quinn released a three-year budget projection for the State of Illinois this week that shows only minor improvements in the State’s…
In 2011 the Civic Federation blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on government budgets and fiscal issues across Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on FY2012 local government budget analysis and the severe…
In 2011 the IIFS blog provided weekly context, information and perspective on key fiscal issues in the State of Illinois. Posts in 2011 focused on analysis of FY2012 Illinois budget negotiations, analysis of the ongoing Illinois pension…
(The full text of this article is available only to the publication’s subscribers.) This article is an overview of the Civic Federation's analyses of the FY2012 budgets for the nine local governments it studies, as summarized in two recent…
This article discusses the State of Illinois’ upcoming issuances of general obligation bonds to fund its ongoing public works program. Plans include bond sales of between $500 million and $750 million on January 11 and additional bond…
In the past two years, nine states have passed laws to reduce automatic annual increases in pension benefits for current retirees. The latest example is Rhode Island…
The focus of this article is an announcement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration that it exceeded its budget-trimming goal by cutting $8 million more than the $75 million that was targeted in May. The Civic Federation said the…
On December 16, 2011, the Governor signed half of a tax incentive package that was sent to him earlier in the week by the legislature. The package of tax incentives had failed to advance earlier in the veto session. After splitting a…
