State of Illinois officials want to tighten procedures for Medicaid by using electronic data to verify eligibility—a step also viewed as crucial to deal with the surge in Medicaid enrollment expected under federal healthcare reform. On…
UPDATE: The Civic Federation commends Governor Pat Quinn for signing Senate Bill 3538, a bill…
The operating budget enacted by the State of Illinois for FY2011 is based on General Funds revenues projected to be slightly higher than last year’s, and so far actual monthly revenues appear to be on target to meet or exceed these…
A new report by the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability (IIFS)…
This report examines the State of Illinois’ $53.5 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2011, which began on July 1, 2010 and ends on June 30, 2011. The report focuses on the $25.8 billion General Funds budget, the largest component of…
The Civic Federation's legislative priorities for 2011 include public pension reform, requiring state government to develop and implement a capital improvement plan, the dissolving of the Illinois International Port District, creating a…
When the General Assembly reconvenes next week for its annual veto session, it is expected to continue deliberating whether to borrow in FY2011 to make its required pension payment. If approved, the borrowing plan would lighten the load on…
After experiencing several years of poor market conditions, three of the five Illinois State employee retirement funds have reduced their expected rate of return on investments. This rate, also known as the discount rate, is used to…
As explained in its recent analysis of the State of Illinois FY2011 proposed budget, the Civic Federation opposes the practice of supplying money to the State…
An issue in this year’s election campaign for Illinois Governor has concerned the State’s budgetary trends since FY2009. Different conclusions can be reached depending on which numbers are included in the analysis. Counting pension…
