Government Budgets

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Thousands of city retirees to see health care premium increase

This article discusses increases to health insurance premiums paid by City of Chicago retirees. The Civic Federation says that the City should create a retiree healthcare trust fund.

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General Assembly Enacts Budget with Cuts, Delayed Bills and Interfund Borrowing

After several significant budget related initiatives failed to advance out of the General Assembly, such as proposed…

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State treasurer says ‘no’ to more debt

This article discusses State of Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford’s resistance to proposals by State lawmakers to borrow to pay the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. The Civic Federation says that borrowing won’t ease the backlog and will…

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Illinois Lawmakers May Satisfy Nobody as They Decide How Much Debt to Sell

This article examines the various disagreements over plans of how, and if, to borrow to pay off the State of Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills. The Civic Federation says that borrowing will worsen the State’s fiscal outlook.

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House FY2012 Medicaid Budget Cuts Appropriations But May Not Reduce Spending

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.…

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Fund Balance Policies of Chicago Area Governments

As explained previously in this blog a key indicator the Civic Federation uses to assess the financial health of local governments is the level of unreserved…

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Rahm Emanuel cutting budget by 75 mil.

In this article about the first budget cuts City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made to help restore solvency to the City’s finances, the Civic Federation says that the cuts are a good first step, but deeper reductions must be made to…

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Lawmakers need to learn meaning of 'less'

This editorial about the fiscal condition of the State of Illinois cites the Civic Federation’s analysis of…

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Rahm Emanuel: Can he handle Chicago’s ‘profound’ financial crisis?

This article discusses how City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel may confront the City’s major budget issues. The Civic Federation explains that the problems were exacerbated by a long-standing unwillingness to reduce spending. The Federation…

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Daley Legacy Debated

This article discusses the issues City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel must confront as he works to restore fiscal health to the City’s finances. The Civic Federation says that the City must reduce personnel costs and adequately fund its…