Issue Brief: How Does Illinois Spending on Public Services Compare to Other States?
Release: January 23, 2014
This Issue Brief compares Illinois’ General Fund (GF) spending on services to other states using three metrics: (i) per capita; (ii) as share of state Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and (iii) number of state employees per 1,000 residents. Under each metric, Illinois ranks as one of the lowest spending states in the nation.
Wrong Time to Implement New Tax Breaks
Release: November 30, 2011
An analysis of Senate Bill 397 of the 97th General Assembly, which would have provided $250 million tax expenditures to various businesses at a time when Illinois was facing budget deficit and cuts to spending on core services.
Analysis of the Enacted Illinois FY2012 Budget
Release: October 1, 2011
This Report provides an analysis of the FY2012 Enacted General Fund budget. Key findings are: Detail on how the tax increases passed in January averted a fiscal disaster in FY2012; over $388 million in cuts to human service programs; and despite the recent tax increases and spending cuts, the FY2012 budget proposes over $1 billion in spending for which there is no revenue, and is subject to an accumulated deficit of over $7 billion after accounting for unpaid bills left over from FY2011.