Cook County is a home rule government with three primary responsibilities: collecting tax and fee revenue, protecting public health through the administration of a public health and hospital system and ensuring public safety and justice…
A settlement agreement on Rhode Island’s pension reform litigation that was presented to pension system members for a vote has been rejected even though most groups overwhelmingly backed it. The vote was structured such that any one group…
The Civic Federation joined with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on April 23, 2014 to co-host a conference on ways that municipalities in Illinois can avoid or resolve fiscal…
A recent report by the Illinois Supreme Court raises significant concerns about Cook County’s pretrial services. The Cook County Pretrial Services Department (PSD) was established in 1990 to address a host of concerns, not the least of…
On December 18, 2013, the Illinois General Assembly held its first hearing on the plan to apply for a federal waiver to overhaul the State’s Medicaid program…
This report uses nine indicators of financial condition to measure the relative financial performance of Chicago and 12 other major U.S. cities from FY2007 to FY2011. In addition to Chicago, the other cities analyzed were Baltimore, Boston…
According to the latest legislative report on gaming in Illinois, total casino revenues have recovered since the opening of the State’s tenth riverboat casino…
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the bond ratings for seven of the nine public universities in Illinois on August 9, 2013. The ratings include a negative outlook for all of the institutions.The action from Moody’s comes after a review…
Many cash-strapped states are looking to a proposal in the U.S. Congress to help collect sales taxes on internet purchases. The legislation could lead to a windfall in recaptured state sales tax revenues but currently would exclude…
