IIFS Blog

05.18.12

State FY2013 Budget Update

With two weeks left to go before the Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, two budget plans for FY2013 are on the table: Governor Pat Quinn’s recommended budget and an alternative budget framework approved by the Illinois House. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May...

05.11.12

Illinois General Assembly Passes Measure to Reduce State's Bill for Retiree Health Insurance

Faced with the threat of a significant budget gap in FY2013, the Illinois General Assembly has approved legislation that would reduce the State’s bill for retiree health insurance by shifting more of the costs to retirees. Senate Bill 1313 passed the Senate on May 10, 2012 by a vote of 31 to...

05.09.12

Civic Federation Opposes Senate Bill 3564

On May 7, 2012, the Civic Federation sent this letter to Senator Gary Forby and the members of the Illinois General Assembly. Click here to read the Civic Federation's Position Statement on SB 3564. Update: On May 9, 2012, the Illinois Senate narrowly rejected Senate Bill 3564. The vote was 29 to...

05.03.12

Civic Federation Supports Governor’s Budget but Raises Concerns

On May 1, 2012, the Civic Federation announced its support for Governor Pat Quinn’s FY2013 budget recommendation based on an analysis by the Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability (IIFS), the Federation’s State government research arm. This marked the first time that the...

04.26.12

Medicaid 101: How $337.5 Million Turns Into $675 Million

A key component of Governor Pat Quinn’s proposal to close the State of Illinois’ $2.7 billion Medicaid funding gap in FY2013 is an increase in the State’s cigarette tax. The Governor projects that a $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax, to $1.98, would bring $337.5 million in...

04.19.12

What are the Rhode Island Pension Reforms?

Public officials and opinion leaders in Illinois have expressed much interest in the landmark pension reforms approved in Rhode Island in 2011. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel remarked recently that Illinois should look at reforms similar to those enacted in Rhode Island. Cook County Commissioner...

04.12.12

Largest State Pension Fund Calls for Major Reforms in FY2013

The Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) has concluded that it can no longer rely on the State to follow the law for funding its five retirement systems and that sweeping changes are needed to sustain the pension funds. On March 30, 2012, the TRS Board of Trustees...

04.05.12

Illinois House Proposes Reductions to Governor’s FY2013 Budget

The Illinois House has approved a spending plan for FY2013 that would cut the State of Illinois’ expenditures from the level proposed by Governor Pat Quinn and use an additional budget surplus to reduce the State’s backlog of unpaid bills. House Resolution 706, approved on March 29,...

03.29.12

Legislative Scholarship Program Under Scrutiny Again

On March 21, 2012, the Illinois House passed House Bill 3810 with a 79 to 25 vote, a bill that would end the Illinois General Assembly Legislative Scholarship Program as of June 1, 2012. Tuition waivers granted by members on or before June 1, 2012 would still be valid for the full duration of the...

03.22.12

State Seeks Early Medicaid Expansion for Troubled Cook County Health System

The State of Illinois is seeking public comment on a proposal that would allow Cook County’s financially challenged public health system to get a head start on federal funding for low-income adults who will be eligible for Medicaid under federal healthcare reform beginning in 2014. For the...