2019 Civic Federation Legislative Priorities The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2019 include public employee pension reforms, consolidation of local government units in Illinois, enacting policies to rationalize the property tax system, creation of a Local Government Protection Authority, requiring the State of Illinois to…
Illinois’ contributions to its severely underfunded retirement systems are expected to increase significantly in the upcoming budget year, but the numbers could change due to pension buyout plans that have yet to be implemented. Proposed State contributions to the five pension funds are $9.1 billion in fiscal year 2020, which begins on July 1, 2019. That represents an increase of $679.9 million…
(CHICAGO) In a report released today, the Civic Federation announced support for Cook County’s proposed FY2019 budget. The $5.9 billion budget proposal is structurally balanced without raising new taxes and continues the practice of making supplemental pension payments. The full report is available here. “Overall, this budget is a prudent plan for the coming year—but it fails to set its sights…
Click here to read the full report. The Civic Federation supports Cook County’s proposed FY2019 budget of $5.9 billion because it is structurally balanced without raising new taxes and continues the practice of making supplemental pension payments. The Federation is encouraged by the County’s strong level of fund balance reserves and its commitment to performance-based budgeting and…
Since Illinois passed its budget for the current fiscal year, many questions have been raised about the $445 million in savings expected from enacted pension changes. What is the basis for the savings estimate and how accurate is it likely to be? The assumed reductions in State pension contributions are the result of three provisions in the FY2019 budget legislation. The most important is a…
After three years of political gridlock and missed deadlines, the Illinois General Assembly passed a budget for the coming fiscal year on the last day of its regular spring session. Governor Bruce Rauner promptly signed the budget amid bipartisan celebration. Although the $38.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2019 is roughly balanced on paper, concerns persist about whether the revenue and…
This article briefly summarizes the ongoing financial struggles in the City of Harvey, which were recently exacerbated when the Illinois Comptroller was required to intercept the City’s tax revenue to pay its public safety pension contributions. The article points out that a number of Illinois municipalities are facing similar pressures and are relying on “last-ditch efforts” to make pension…
The following news items cover the release of the Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability at the Civic Federation's analysis of the State of Illinois FY2019 Recommended Operating Budget. The Federation could not support Governor Bruce Rauner’s recommended budget because it is precariously balanced and its modest surplus relies on aggressive assumptions. Additionally, the…
This article discusses the state of Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities on the three-year anniversary of the Illinois Supreme Court’s ruling that the State’s bipartisan attempt at pension reform was unconstitutional. As the article notes, the State has since suffered credit downgrades to one notch above junk status, and the unfunded liability for State pensions ballooned to more than $130…
Click here to read the full report. The Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability is not able to support Governor Bruce Rauner’s recommended FY2019 budget because it is precariously balanced and its modest surplus relies on aggressive assumptions. Additionally, the proposal does little to address Illinois’ massive backlog of bills. While the Civic Federation is encouraged…
