As the Civic Federation composes its forthcoming Status of Local Pensions Report, we have pensions on our minds. Here’s a quick round up of what’s happening with local pension funds in Chicago and across the State of Illinois, including…
This week the State of Illinois finalized one of its largest revenue sources enacted by General Assembly and approved by the Governor to fund the FY2010 budget, a $3.5 billion loan. By selling five-year pension obligation bonds,…
The redesign of the Civic Federation website in July has provided the public, government officials, and the media better access to the Federation’s analyses of government services in Illinois. The regularly-updated Civic Federation blog…
Since its beginnings in July with the overhaul of the Civic Federation’s website, the IIFS blog has focused mostly on issues related to the Illinois budget, including…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2010 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement performance measurement and a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International…
As noted on page 9 of its FY2010 Tentative Budget, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago will begin to…
The Civic Federation supports the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s FY2010 Tentative Budget of nearly $1.7 billion as a prudent response to revenue shortfalls. The MWRD plans to prioritize spending, control personnel costs, and…
Facing a multi-billion dollar mountain of unpaid bills and declining revenues, Governor Pat Quinn has proposed a new short-term borrowing plan for the State of Illinois that has encountered opposition from the Comptroller’s Office. As…
This article about a report on the States in the worst fiscal condition by the Pew Center on the States quotes the Civic Federation in its profile of Illinois’…
The Civic Federation opposes the FY2010 City of Chicago budget of $6.14 billion because it is unsustainable and relies too heavily on one-time reserve funds to close a $520.0 million budget deficit. The proposed drastic draw down of long-…
