The Illinois General Assembly reconvened on June 22, 2011 for an extra day of the spring session to sort out several issues that were not addressed three weeks ago when the legislature adjourned after approving a $33.2 billion budget. Both…
In this article about how parents of disabled children are moving out of Illinois due to uncertainty about the State’s funding of social service programs, the Civic Federation says that payment uncertainty on the part of social service…
Surprising as it may seem, not all budget cuts reduce spending. A case in point is the FY2012 Medicaid budget passed by the Illinois House on May 13, 2011.…
A key component of Cook County’s plan to remake its public health system was rejected by a State of Illinois board on May 10, 2011, adding to concerns that the County might have difficulties implementing its FY2011 budget. At a meeting in…
The Civic Federation sent the following letter to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board in support of a plan by the Cook County Health and Hospitals System to discontinue acute-care hospital services at Oak Forest…
Cook County plans to reduce financial assistance to its Health and Hospitals System by nearly 33% this year, from $411.5 million in FY2010 to $276.3 million in FY2011. The County will face major challenges related to the Health System’s…
Concerns Remain about Independence of the Health System, Future Budgets (CHICAGO) A new Civic Federation report released today finds that Cook County has made considerable progress toward modernizing its operations, but still faces…
The Civic Federation’s Cook County Modernization 100-Day Accountability Report continues the work of our Cook County Modernization Project. This report includes detailed information on the status of all 36 recommendations from the Civic…
After three years of increasing budget deficits, the State of Illinois is expected to see a smaller budget gap at the end of FY2011 because of tax increases and expanded borrowing for operations. The FY2011 year-end deficit is currently…
Today marks the 100th day since Toni Preckwinkle took office as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. During that time, the County has begun to implement a variety of reforms including many of the recommendations from the…
