The 2015 Illinois budget absurdity and hypocrisy knows few bounds. —————————————————————— But, back to absurdity and hypocrisy. Here are the facts to remember: The state is more than $5 billion behind in paying its bills. It has the worst credit rating of any state. It has the worst unfunded pension liability of any state. There […]
Illinois’ FY 2014 budget: chock-full of waste
May 31, 2013 by 4 Comments
A few years ago there was a popular narrative in Illinois politics about going through the budget line by line and eliminating wasteful spending. Those efforts, of course, never moved forward, and the narrative is dead. That’s a common theme in Springfield, where lawmakers make promises they don’t intend to keep. It was dishonest for […]
What would you cut from the Illinois Budget?
April 24, 2013 by 3 Comments
If you want to try your hand at fixing the Illinois Budget, Crain’s Business is taking suggestions with their interactive budget calculator. I noticed when I did my projections that not all options are available and some amounts are limited as to how much can be cut. However, even with that, my sample budget projected […]
Quinn Budget Address
March 6, 2013 by 2 Comments
Gov. Quinn gave his budget address today. You can read the full transcript here. Early in the speech, Gov. Quinn made the following remark: “But this is also an honest budget that reflects our fiscal challenges…pays down the backlog of bills…and addresses funds that have been under-appropriated for too long. There are no gimmicks or […]
Retired Illinois teachers could face pension cuts
April 3, 2012 by 3 Comments
The head of the Illinois teacher’s retirement system says there was no one factor that prompted him to sound the alarm. His warnings of a possible reduction in his members’ benefits — as well as the revelation that his fund could go broke in 15 years — come as the state continues to grapple with […]
Closing in on Illinois Financial Reform
The Illinois Legislature is scheduled to be in session for a little more than a week. These could, should, be momentous days. There is a great opportunity to repair the massive fiscal damage the Legislature has created over many years. It starts with curbing the state’s huge and unsustainable spending on pensions and health care. Click […]