By Jonelle Lesniak
07/01/2015
A last-ditch attempt at a temporary budget represented the same untenable spending pattern that taxpayers cannot afford.
TAGS: budget
By Benjamin VanMetre
03/18/2015
The array of six tax-hike proposals adds up to more than the state’s total projected general-fund spending in fiscal years 2016, 2017 and 2018 – combined.
By Robert Steere
12/02/2014
Senate Bill 2758 establishes a brand new governmental entity with a brand new governmental function: to establish and administer a “mostly mandatory” IRA retirement savings program for private-sector workers.
By Chris Andriesen
06/29/2013
by Jane McEnaney On June 27, the Illinois General Assembly’s conference committee on pension reform met for the first time in Chicago. All 10 members of the bipartisan, bicameral committee were present. The committee met for five straight hours, hearing testimony from: Ty Fahner, President, Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago Jerry Stermer, Acting Director...
By Benjamin VanMetre
12/31/2012
Gov. Pat Quinns Office of Management and Budget recently released its three-year budget projections for Illinois General Fund. According to the report, Illinois will end fiscal year 2013 with a $242 million budget surplus.
How confident do you feel that Illinois will be able to pay its bills in 2013 and beyond?
By Jonathan Ingram
09/21/2012
All across the country, states are grappling with pension funds that are massively underfunded. Under new accounting rules, Illinois’ unfunded pension debt stands at a whopping $209 billion. And that’s not counting the debt for retiree health insurance, pension bonds or all local retirement debt. Recent calculations have put the total level of states’ unfunded pension...
by Kate Piercy Although Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, USA Today reports “there’s $162 million the website doesn’t disclose,” finding: Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how they spent the money, the status of their projects or how many jobs were funded, according...
by Collin Hitt Last Monday, the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to Illinois school districts urging them to frantically spend newly available federal stimulus funds totaling more than $400 million, before the end of November. Highly unusual, however, was that the letter and the governor’s instructions were apparently written and circulated...
by Ashley Muchow If you missed the Auditor General’s release last week, you’ll be surprised to see the findings are far from negligible. Based on all the grading standards I accepted as a student, it’s fair to say most teachers would have failed the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget on their most recent state audit. The...
