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State budget
Quick Hit
by Angela Caputo
1:03pm
Wed Feb 24, 2010
1 comment

Not So Fast, Rep. Rose

Lawmakers got testy during a budget hearing in Springfield yesterday as they considered how to break the news to their local school districts that a 10 percent cut in General State Aid (GSA) may be on the way. Some, however, seemed incapable of accepting the fact that -- barring passage of an income tax increase -- the budget ax is going to fall on schools. Among them is State Rep. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) who, as Illinois Statehouse News reports, dismissed the talk of cuts as a "scare tactic" on the part of Democrats. “The general state aid formula is sacrosanct, and for good reason," he said. "You don’t take this out of the hides of kids."

But if Rose considers himself the protector of school funding, maybe he should take a closer look at the man he endorsed for governor.  While frustratingly vague on the details, Republican State Sen. Bill Brady's proposed budget solution includes no tax increase and a 10 percent across-the-board cut that appears to include education spending.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
11:59am
Wed Feb 24, 2010

No Wiggle Room

The Tribune's Bob Secter has a nice and dispiriting piece today laying out the basic facts about Illinois' gigantic budget deficit. If you've read our budget coverage this past year, this won't contain any new information, but it's nice to see the Tribune devote some time and energy to explaining the dynamics at play.

What does Secter conclude? That it all starts with the state's structural deficit, which has historically been covered by skimping on pension payments and what Secter calls "fiscal tricks." When the recession hit, revenues plummeted and demand for services jumped, knocking the system "over the edge."  He notes that 80 percent of the $26 million budget is devoted to preserving funding for education and Medicaid (thus maximizing federal matching funds) and making timely debt service and reduction payments for the loans the state must repay.  When it comes to cuts, there's just very little "wiggle room" -- let alone $13 billion worth.

Read the whole piece here.

Quick Hit
by Josh Kalven
9:28am
Wed Feb 24, 2010
2 comments

Repossessed Squad Cars?

Reading Carol Marin's Sun-Times column today, this passage popped out at me:

[I]n Illinois, we've deferred our problems until it's almost too late. Like in Downstate Alexander County, for instance, where all the squad cars were recently repossessed, and 75 percent of the sheriff's department was laid off. Imagine.

That's right.  The sheriff's department in Alexander County is so broke that it fired three-quarters of its staff and missed so many car payments that the bank repossessed five of their seven squad cars.  A sheriff's department in St. Lucie, FL ultimately donated five of their own cruisers last September.  Read all about it here.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
6:11pm
Tue Feb 23, 2010

Incoming: The FY 2011 Budget

Tomorrow is budget day!  Well, sort of.  Gov. Quinn won't deliver his formal budget address until March 10, but his administration will post an estimated budget for fiscal year 2011 online tomorrow morning (as well as budget figures for the past two years). When it's live, you will be able to page through it here. Check back during the day tomorrow for our analysis.

Quick Hit
by Angela Caputo
12:48pm
Tue Feb 23, 2010

Msall: "We Run The Risk Of The State's Entire Financial System Collapsing"

While the Civic Federation's latest budget proposal is far from perfect, Larry Msall made clear on WTTW's Chicago Tonight yesterday that they will be an aggressive voice in favor of raising the income tax rate in Illinois this year.  And we certainly need more of those.  During last night's appearance, Msall took the wind out of Illinois Republicans' dishonest argument that the state can magically cut and borrow its way out of a $12.8 billion hole, noting that an "all-cuts budget" would involve "tak[ing] 80 percent of the operating budget of Illinois and eliminate it."

"We're calling on members of the General Assembly and the governor to understand how close the state is to bankruptcy," Msall said, "and not to push it into bankruptcy." He added a call to action: "More citizens need to contact their legislators and more citizens need to understand just how much of a bad situation is developing." Go watch the full segment.