The Civic Federation’s Cost of the Crisis report is cited in this article about the State of Illinois’ plan to issue bonds backed by Illinois’ share of the 1998 tobacco settlement.
This article discusses a proposal by the family that owns the Chicago Cubs to have the State of Illinois borrow $300 million in a bond deal to make improvements to Wrigley Field. The Civic Federation says that such a deal should be approached with caution as the State is already under enormous fiscal pressure.
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2011 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a new governing board for the Cook County Forest Preserve District, reinstating means-tested transit discounts for seniors, requiring large counties to hold budget…
When the General Assembly reconvenes next week for its annual veto session, it is expected to continue deliberating whether to borrow in FY2011 to make its required pension payment. If approved, the borrowing plan would lighten the load on the already stressed General Funds of the State but would lead to dramatically higher debt service payments for almost a decade. This would be the second year…
After experiencing several years of poor market conditions, three of the five Illinois State employee retirement funds have reduced their expected rate of return on investments. This rate, also known as the discount rate, is used to calculate the present value of the future obligations of the systems. Although the reductions were small, one percentage point or less, the move triggers a…
As explained in its recent analysis of the State of Illinois FY2011 proposed budget, the Civic Federation opposes the practice of supplying money to the State’s pension funds through borrowing. Pensions are an annual operating expense and the use of debt to fund them is not sustainable, adding to the State’s mounting debt service burden and increasing future pressures on the operating budget. On…
An issue in this year’s election campaign for Illinois Governor has concerned the State’s budgetary trends since FY2009. Different conclusions can be reached depending on which numbers are included in the analysis. Counting pension contributions, debt service and legislatively required transfers yields different results. In the table below, the top line shows enacted General Funds appropriations…
A recent poll of Illinois voters might help explain why elected officials have been reluctant to make difficult decisions to solve the State of Illinois’ fiscal crisis. The poll, by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, asked registered voters to choose among three different proposals for closing the State’s roughly $13 billion deficit in FY2011. More…
This segment on the City Room news program discusses a recent report that found the State of Illinois ranks as the slowest state in the nation in paying its bills to nonprofits. Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says the State is acting fiscally irresponsible by paying its bills so late.
The State appears one step closer to implementing new performance measurement requirements that may significantly improve the General Assembly’s annual budget appropriations process. Illinois Senate President John Cullerton announced this week that Senator Dan Kotowski would take a leadership role in the implementation of the “Budgeting for Results” provisions included in Emergency Budget…
