This editorial highlights the recommendations in the Civic Federation’s State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap and calls the Federation’s plan a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to the State Budget that offers a solid starting point for discussion. Recommendations include building a rainy day fund that totals at least 5% of General Funds revenues.
This editorial examines the Civic Federation’s State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap and calls the Federation’s plan a “reasonable and balanced approach” to addressing Illinois’ perpetual fiscal crisis. The Federation’s recommendations would allow the State to eliminate its $5.4 billion bill backlog in five years.
This article focuses on the Civic Federation’s recommendation for Illinois to include federally taxable amounts of retirement income in its income tax base. Of the 41 states that impose an income tax, Illinois is one of only three that exempt all pension income. The recommendation was part of the State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap.
Last month, an independent Blue Ribbon Panel convened by the Society of Actuaries released its report with recommendations to improve the financial health of public pension plans. Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, was a member of the panel, along with actuaries, economists, former plan trustees and government and financial experts. Mr. Msall was also interviewed as part of a…
Four weeks ago, the Civic Federation blogged about the Chicago City Council granting the City authority to issue general obligation (GO) bonds for the payment of various capital projects and legal judgments, as well as refunding and restructuring debt. As part of that plan, the City is expected to sell $388.0 million in GO bonds on March 6, 2014. In anticipation of this bond sale, Moody’s…
In its recently released FY2015 budget roadmap report, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation recommended that the State of Illinois publish a five-year financial plan and that the plan be updated annually. This recommendation follows a best practice of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), which urges every government to use long-term financial…
This article looks at findings of the Civic Federation’s State of Illinois FY2015 Budget Roadmap released by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability on March 3. The State’s General Funds revenues are projected to decline by $3.9 billion between FY2014 and FY2016 due to the scheduled partial rollback of the income tax increase. The Federation’s report presents a plan to avoid the pending…
In a report released today, the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability proposes a comprehensive plan for achieving long-term fiscal sustainability for the State of Illinois. The five-year plan would fully pay down the State’s $5.4 billion backlog of unpaid bills while gradually reducing income tax rates by 20%, broadening the tax base and building a reserve fund as…
Prior to the release of the Governor’s annual budget recommendation, the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation releases an analysis of the State of Illinois’ fiscal condition. The report reviews Governor Quinn’s three-year budget projection and proposes a comprehensive five-year plan for achieving long-term fiscal sustainability for the State of Illinois. The Civic…
The Illinois House of Representatives has approved a revenue projection for the coming fiscal year that includes a $2.2 billion loss in operating resources for FY2015, after a holding series of committee meetings to deliberate varying estimates. The General Funds revenue estimate totaling $34.5 billion was unanimously approved on February 25, 2014 in House Joint Resolution 80. The revenue…
