Policy Brief: Tier 2 Pensions and Safe Harbor ExplainedThe Civic Federation partnered with the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago to draft this policy brief to explain Tier 2 pensions in Illinois and the Safe Harbor issue.
New data from the Illinois Gaming Board show that casino revenue gross receipts have continued their recent trend of annual growth, thereby increasing tax allocations to the State of Illinois and local governments. These data also offer first-month estimates of the City of Chicago’s inaugural casino, the temporary location of which opened Sept. 9, 2023, at the former Medinah Temple building…
On July 18, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court released a ruling that upheld the pretrial release provisions of the SAFE-T Act as constitutional, making Illinois the first state in the nation to entirely eliminate cash bail. These pretrial provisions, known as the Pretrial Fairness Act, took effect this week. As of September 18, 2023, judges are no longer allowed to order someone charged…
During the last week of May, after the Illinois General Assembly had been scheduled to adjourn, legislators passed four budget bills for fiscal year 2024: the appropriations bill, the bond authorization bill, the budget implementation bill and the revenue omnibus bill. The Governor signed them into law on June 7. This blog will explore the trends between the year-end FY2023 estimates…
The Civic Federation submitted the following written testimony to Chairperson Kifowit and Members of the House Personnel & Pensions Committee on August 9, 2023.Dear Chairperson Kifowit and Members of the House Personnel & Pensions Committee: As the House Personnel and Pensions Committee considers a path forward for Tier 2 pensions in Illinois this year, the Civic Federation urges…
State of illinois enacts $46.5 billion FY2024 capital budgetThe General Assembly has approved and Governor Pritzker has signed an approximately $46.5 billion FY2024 capital budget.Unlike the State’s annual General Funds budget, which is intended to cover only the cost of operations for the current fiscal year, capital appropriations are reauthorized over multiple years as planning,…
This week, the Civic Federation released its annual analysis of the State of Illinois Budget for FY2024. Among the recommendations made to the Governor and lawmakers was a call for the Illinois General Assembly to increase transparency and accessibility by posting video archives of General Assembly floor and committee hearings. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL),…
Click here to read the full report. Click here to read the press release for this analysis. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Governor’s proposed FY2024 budget reflects the State’s continued recovery from the pandemic recession. Since FY2021 State budgets have had year-end surpluses, much of which the State has directed toward several priorities strongly supported by the Civic Federation, such as paying…
On April 20, 2023 two bills passed out of committee in the Illinois House of Representatives that would increase pension benefits for Chicago firefighters hired after 2010. Senate Bills 1629 and 1630 are now on second reading in the House after passing unanimously in the Senate earlier in the session. The Civic Federation is concerned about these and other proposals that would enhance benefits…
The State of Illinois currently pays debt service on four major types of bonds: General Obligation (GO) bonds for capital projects, GO bonds for pension obligations, GO bonds to pay backlogged bills and Build Illinois revenue bonds. In previous years, the State has also issued short-term debt. The Illinois Constitution, the Short-Term Borrowing Act and the 2020 Coronavirus Urgent Remediation…
