Illinois and many other states drafted budget plans for FY2011 based on the assumption that Congress would extend the expiration date for enhanced federal Medicaid funding by six months—from December 31, 2010 to June 30, 2011. Now that…
This article examines Illinois’ pension-funding crisis and the legislative reforms that attempt to stabilize the State pension systems. The Civic Federation points out that the reforms do not do enough to address immediate funding problems…
In a discussion on the Fox Chicago Sunday news program about the Illinois legislature’s passage of an emergency budget, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall explains that the budget does not make sufficient cuts nor does it address…
Before adjourning for a second time this session on May 28, 2010, the Illinois General Assembly sent a series of budget bills for FY2011 to the Governor. Both houses passed $26.0 billion in appropriations, emergency budget powers for the…
In a victory for good government, the Cook County Board of Commissioners on June 1, 2010 voted 13-3 to make permanent the independent Board of Directors overseeing the…
As the General Assembly nears the final days of this year’s regular session with no FY2011 budget in sight, a group of lawmakers is attempting to advance the negotiations by…
In this editorial about the various Illinois gubernatorial candidates’ plans to balance the State’s budget, the Pantagraph encourages candidates for state office to read the Civic Federation’s “Fiscal Rehabiliation Plan for the State of…
In this joint column, Dennis Byrne and Eric Zorn discuss the origins and severity of Illinois’ fiscal crisis. Both columnists cite from the Civic Federation’s “Fiscal Rehabilitation Plan for the State of Illinois” to illustrate some of the…
In this news segment about the inability of Illinois legislators to pass a FY2011 budget, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says that Illinois cannot afford to borrow to fill the State’s budget deficit and that many of the budget…
In a roundtable discussion about the Illinois Legislature’s budget negotiations on this segment of the “Chicago Tonight” news program, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said that the likelihood of a balanced budget being passed is…
