Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended FY2012 budget for the State of Illinois proposes that General Funds appropriations for the State Employees’ Group Insurance Program more than double to $1.4 billion from $695.8 million in FY2011.[1] This proposal, which reflects significant underfunding of the program in FY2011, has drawn more attention to how much the State pays for employee and retiree…
Although the State of Illinois' FY2011 tax amnesty program brought in more than $700 million of delinquent tax payments owed by taxpayers and business, only $12 million of that revenue can be considered new funds. As previously discussed on this blog, the tax amnesty program approved by the Governor and General Assembly allowed payment of personal income tax, corporate income tax and sales tax…
General Funds represent the largest component of the State of Illinois budget and are mainly used to support the regular operating and administrative expenses of state agencies through annual appropriations by the General Assembly.[1] General Funds are also diverted to Other State Funds to make debt service payments on bonds and for a wide range of other legislatively required transfers—from…
This article profiles the fiscal troubles facing Illinois Governor Pat Quinn as he tries to balance the State’s budget. It cites the Civic Federation’s finding that per-capita state debt has tripled since 2001 and may nearly double if the State approves new borrowing.
Although it includes deep cuts to some agencies and programs, the FY2012 budget proposed by Governor Pat Quinn includes increases in other areas that would more than offset the reductions. In all, the proposed budget for FY2012 would increase General Funds appropriations for agency operations by more than $1.0 billion. General Funds appropriations make up the majority of the State’s…
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…
The Illinois House of Representatives took a significant step in its annual budget negotiations this week when legislators unanimously passed a resolution limiting General Funds spending to $33.2 billion. The cap on spending is tied to the total estimated revenues for FY2012 set by the House Revenue Committee and is significantly lower than the $36.8 billion annual spending limit included…
This editorial about the State of Illinois' plan to borrow to pay down its past-due bills cites the Civic Federation, which says the plan is financially reckless.
For the second year in a row, the State of Illinois raised funds in the municipal bond market to make its annual pension contributions. On February 23, 2011, the State finalized the sale of $3.7 billion worth of Pension Obligation Bonds (POB) for FY2011. Similar to its FY2010 POB sale, Illinois’ bonds that sold last week were also oversubscribed, meaning more orders were placed for the…
In this article about the market for Illinois bonds, the Civic Federation says that the State’s plan to borrow money to pay into its pension system is too expensive and that the State should consider cutting its costs if it cannot pay its pension contributions.
