State of Illinois

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Governor’s Report Shows $1.5 Billion Budget Deficit in FY2018

When the Illinois General Assembly overrode Governor Rauner’s veto of the FY2018 budget package in July, it estimated that the enacted budget would have an operating surplus of about…

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School Districts and Property Taxes in Illinois

Illinois has by far the greatest number of local governments in the nation at 6,963, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Census of Governments. The vast number of local governments in Illinois is often cited as a driving factor for…

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New State Law Increases Cook County Property Tax Homestead Exemptions

Illinois Public Act 100-0401, signed into law on August 25, 2017, will increase the value of the Senior Citizens and General…

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Is the State of Illinois’ FY2018 Budget Balanced?

For nearly two months, the fate of Illinois’ budget for the current fiscal year was in doubt because of Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of a…

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What the New Illinois School Funding Formula Means for Chicago Public Schools

After several iterations and much disagreement, the State of Illinois now has a new statewide school funding formula. The Illinois General Assembly approved the new formula as Senate Bill 1947, House Floor Amendment 5 on August 29, with…

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Will Illinois borrow to pay off the backlog?

Seven weeks after the General Assembly enacted Illinois’ first budget in three years by overriding the Governor’s veto, the backlog of bills owed by the State still stood at…

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Veto of SB1 Leaves School Funding In Doubt

After two years with no complete budget except for public school funding, Illinois now faces the prospect of beginning the 2017-18 school year with a budget for everything except schools. On August 1 Governor Rauner issued an…

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Higher Education Funding Shortfall Persists Despite New Budget

Higher education was one of the areas hit hardest by the State of Illinois’ two-year budget impasse. This blog post examines how higher education fares under the…

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Illinois Ends Two-Year Budget Standoff

The State of Illinois ended its two-year budget impasse on July 6, 2017, enacting a $36.1 billion spending plan with about $5 billion in tax increases. To break the logjam, the General Assembly narrowly overrode Governor Bruce Rauner’s…

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Illinois Negotiates Lower Swap Termination Thresholds

The State of Illinois has renegotiated the…