The Civic Federation recently released its analysis of Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended FY2011 operating and capital budgets for the State of Illinois. One of the Federation’s strongest points of opposition to the proposed $52 billion operating budget was that it relied heavily on borrowing for operations. The budget as proposed by the Governor called for borrowing to fund $4.7 billion of the…
Spending Plan Would Make Fiscal Crisis Worse (CHICAGO) The Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability released today its analysis of Governor Quinn’s recommended FY2011 State of Illinois budget. The Federation opposes the Governor’s budget because it is unbalanced, relies too heavily on borrowing, doesn’t address $6.2 billion in unpaid bills, and would exacerbate the…
The Civic Federation opposes Governor Pat Quinn’s $52 billion FY2011 recommended operating budget for the State of Illinois because it is unbalanced and does too little to address the State’s fiscal crisis. The Governor’s recommended budget borrows billions to pay for operations while continuing to ignore the massive backlog of unpaid bills, which will make the State’s financial condition worse.…
The State of Illinois currently pays the entire bill for health insurance premiums for 90% of retired state workers. Under Illinois law, retirees with at least 20 years of government service and their survivors do not have to pay any portion of their health insurance premiums. Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2011 budget includes a proposal to save state taxpayers $254.5 million by requiring all retirees…
Although some national economic indicators suggest that the global recession, which began in December 2007, is showing signs of a gradual recovery, many state budgets are more stressed than ever and have little hope for significant economic gains in the coming fiscal year. The most recent report from the National Council of Economic Advisors, published in February, shows a turnaround in national…
Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended FY2011 budget, issued on March 10, 2010, proposes borrowing $4.7 billion to cover FY2011’s projected operating deficit. No details about the Governor’s borrowing plan have yet been made available. However, the budget proposal states that borrowing would be preferable to increasing the State of Illinois’ backlog of unpaid bills by roughly the same amount because…
Although the proposed FY2011operating budget for the State of Illinois, which includes a $4.7 billion annual deficit and carrying forward $6 billion in unpaid bills, has garnered the most attention since being released on March 10, 2010, Governor Pat Quinn also proposed an expansion of the capital budget in FY2011. The Governor’s proposed capital budget for FY2011 comes on the heels of a…
Governor Pat Quinn’s administration is promoting a plan for Medicaid health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as a major reform initiative, but several legislators have introduced bills in the General Assembly that would slow or restrict the plan. The pilot program would enroll roughly 40,000 disabled and elderly Medicaid recipients in Northeastern Illinois—excluding Chicago—in HMOs. The plan…
As part of an agreement with legislative leaders to push back the Governor’s annual budget address from February 17, 2010 until March 10, 2010, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget posted preliminary FY2011 budget information to a new state website last week. In an introductory video on the website, Director David Vaught explains the fiscal crisis facing the State and the tough choices…
The State of Illinois’ underfunding of its retirement systems is a growing source of pressure on the State’s operating budget and an increasing focus of national attention. In a recent report by the Pew Center on the States, Illinois was found to be in the worst shape of any state with regard to the funding of its pension systems. The financial information in the Pew report was based on data from…
