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CTBA Weekly Review |
October 9, 2007 |
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FY 2008 Budget |
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 House
Overrides Governor's Vetoes
Last Tuesday, the Illinois House overturned most
of Governor Blagojevich's FY 2008 budget
vetoes.
The House
voted 104-4 to
override hundreds of the vetoes and then
voted 105-4 to
overturn many more. In total more than $460
million in vetoes was overturned.
They now head to the Senate, where Senate
President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, has said he
will not allow senators to vote on restoring
the budget cuts made by the Governor. However,
many senators have expressed concerns that
the vetoes cut far more than "pork" and "special
interest spending" and instead cut legitimate
and necessary programs like community clinics,
programs for the mentally ill and funding for
the home health care program.
Still NoBudget Implementation Bill
The General
Assembly did not pass the "budget
implementation bill" (BIMP) during session
last week. The BIMP authorizes how to spend
any new money in the budget such as the $400
increase in the per pupil foundation level.
Without a BIMP, The Illinois State Board of
Education (ISBE) can only make payments to
schools based on last year's per-pupil
foundation level, making it difficult for
school districts to determine their
individual school year budgets. When all FY
2008 budget legislation is adopted, ISBE
will retroactively pay school districts to
catch up with FY 2008 levels.
While local school district can receive
their increased payments retroactively,
human service providers rely on Medicaid
funding, which can only be paid
prospectively. That means some human
service programs have lost funding this
year.
Resources:
For a useful analysis of all 1,504 items vetoed or
reduced in funding by the Governor, read the CTBA
report
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Transit Funding |
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Public Hearing Today
Discussed last week,
the gaming bill (HB 2035) does nothing to fix
the Chicago region's transit funding problem.
It simply provides a $200 million loan (from
gaming revenues) to provide operating funding
for Chicago's mass transit systems for the next
nine months. At that point the system would
again need additional funding.
The Governor has said the $200 million would
give lawmakers more time to come up with a
long-term transit funding solution in 2008.
However, all it really does is post pone the
problem yet another year. Further, there is no
revenue source to pay back the $200 million loan
back to the state.
Today the House Mass Transit Committee will
hold a public hearing at 10:00 am at the Harold
Washington Community College, 11th floor, at
Lake and Wabash streets in Chicago. All are
invited to attend. The hearing will focus on
the Senate passed plan for transit capital
funding and the RTA's strategic plan, "Moving
Beyond Congestion."
(Read CTBA's testimony
given today at the hearing).
The hearing will also
focus on specific suggestions for revenues to
replace the sales tax increase contained in
SB 572,
to fund Chicago mass transit for the long term.
SB 572 proposed an increase in the sales tax in
the Chicago region to fund transit. The bill
fell 10 votes short of the 71 it needed to pass
the House and is still placed on "Consideration
Postponed." The Governor has taken a public
position against the modest 1/4 of 1% sales tax
increase in SB 572.
Specific revenue suggestions made at the
hearing must meet the following requirements:
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Generate $280 million in the first year,
beginning immediately, with some growth each
year
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Be relatively stable
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Maintain regional balance
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Should be generated from within the six county
region
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Should not be subject to state budgeting process
The next "doomsday" date
for mass transit riders in the Chicago area is
November 4th, unless Springfield can agree on a
new revenue source. More information on the
hearing can be found
here.
Highlights of the Current SB 572:
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Generates a total of between $386-$482 million in
revenues
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Local governments would receive $116 million of
total revenue for roads
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Transit (CTA, RTA and PACE) would receive between
$270 and $366 million
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Additional revenue would go to the Downstate and
Metro-East Public Transit Funds
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Increases the sales tax by .50% in Lake, McHenry,
DuPage, Kane and Will counties
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Increases the sales tax by .25% in Cook County
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Increases the Chicago Real Estate Transfer Tax (by
$300 for every $100,000)
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Decreases CTA
personnel retiree benefits
Resources:
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Capital Bill & Gaming Update |
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 Casinos
Fate Still Unknown
Last week several House
Republicans said they could support expanded gaming
to pay for a badly needed capital project, but that
the bill that passed out of the Senate,
HB
2035,
was not the right bill.
The House has planned a hearing to discuss the
capital and gaming plan on October 17th at
10:00AM in Chicago (Thompson Center Room
16-503).
Highlights of HB 2035:
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New land based casino in Chicago
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Two new riverboat casinos at unspecified locations
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An additional 6,000 slot machines or other positions
at existing casinos
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More than $25 billion for state construction
programs when federal and local dollars are combined
with the $13 billion in state funds generated from
gaming
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Additional funding for mass transit and education
Gaming Revenue Projections Overestimated?
Read testimony
given in May 2005 by economist Dr. Victor Matheson to
the Illinois General Assembly on the fiscal impact of
riverboat gaming. Dr. Matheson claims, among others
things, that gaming would generate far less money than
current speculations suggest and there are important
social costs to consider when reviewing a gaming
expansion proposal (such as increased crime and
pathological gambling disorders).
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State Revenue and Borrowing Update |
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General Fund Revenues Decline in September
The
September 2007 Monthly Update
from the Illinois Commission on
Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA)
states that excluding short term borrowing, total
general funds revenues fell $198 million in
September. Most of the decline ($154 million) is
attributed to a drop in federal sources of revenue
due to a slowdown in state reimbursable spending.
However many state revenue sources also performed
poorly.
Sales Tax
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Sales tax receipts were down $33 million
COGFA calls the sales tax a weak revenue source. During
the past two decades, revenues from the Illinois sales
tax have grown more slowly than in most other states,
even though Illinois has one of the highest sales tax
rates in the country.
This is due to Illinois' comparatively narrow sales tax
base.
The reason Illinois has a narrow sales tax base is
because it excludes almost all consumer services. Of the
164 taxable services that could be included in the sales
tax base, Illinois taxes only 17. Illinois taxes fewer
services than all its neighboring states, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Missouri,
Indiana and Kentucky.
For more information read the CTBA report, Illinois
Must Expand its Sales Tax Base to Reflect the Modern
Economy.
Other Revenues
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Inheritance Tax receipts fell by $13 million
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Corporate Income Taxes fell by $10 million
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Public Utility Taxes fell by $11 million
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Insurance Taxes fell by $5 million
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Interest Income fell by $2 million
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Personal Income Taxes were up $41 million
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Corporate Franchise Taxes were up by $15 million
FY 2008 Revenue Outlook Concerns
COGFA has concerns about the FY 2008 revenue
outlook. It reports that the, "lack of growth
in sales tax revenues and poor first quarter
performance of corporate income taxes gives rise
for concern." These revenue sources are most
closely tied to the economy, so as the economy
moves, so does state revenues.
Short Term Borrowing
The state sold $1.2 billion in
General Obligation Certificates in September to provide
funding for Medicaid. The state will pay the $1.2
billion loan plus $6.2 million interest payment back on
November 9, 2007. For more on state short term
borrowing see
Section 8 of the CTBA report, Analysis of the Fiscal
Year 2008 Illinois General Fund Budget Proposal. |
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Calendar of Events |
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WHAT?
Making the Connection: Mental Health and
Public Benefits & Understanding Spenddown
WHEN?October
12, 2007
WHERE?Naperville,
IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Property and Asset Management: Community Housing
Developers Institute
WHEN?
October 16-17, 2007
WHERE?
ICAA Training Facility, 3435 Liberty Drive,
Springfield, IL
Contact:
nate@housingactionil.org
or 312-939-6074 x 201 More info:
www.housingactionil.org.
WHAT?
2008
Illinois State Budget Briefing: What Nonprofits
Need to Know.
WHEN?
Wednesday October 24, 9-11am
WHERE?
Roosevelt
University, Congress Lounge, Second Floor,
430 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Hear what experts
have to say about the areas of the state
budget that will have the greatest
impact on the nonprofit sector and get
answers to your questions.
Donors Forum,
the Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability and Roosevelt
University will co-host a budget
briefing on the 2008 Illinois state
budget. Hear what experts have to
say about areas of the state budget
that will have the greatest impact
on the nonprofit sector, and get
answers to your questions. Speakers
will include Ralph Martire of the
Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability, and Lawrence J.
Suffredin,
Jr., Cook County Commissioner. A
panel of legislators will also join
us as speakers
Register online or
call 312-578-0090, toll free 888-578-0090.
WHAT?
Understanding Appeals & Domestic Violence and
Public Benefits
WHEN?October
24, 2007
WHERE?Naperville,
IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Immigrants and Public Benefits & Putting the
Pieces Together
WHEN?October
25, 2007
WHERE?Naperville,
IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Illinois Food Summit 2007 "Building on
Success Through Collaboration"
WHEN?
November 8, 2007
WHERE?
Kankakee Community
College,
100 College Drive,
Kankakee, IL 60901
More info:
http://inc.aces.uiuc.edu/
Sponsored by
Illinois Interagency Nutrition Council
and the
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign Extension
WHAT?
Affordable Housing Month
WHEN?
November 1-30, 2007
WHERE?
Public education events and activities to be
held throughout the state
Contact:
nate@housingactionil.org
or 312-939-6074 x 201 More info:
www.housingactionil.org.
WHAT?
Release of the 2007
State of Working Illinois Report and Policy
Forum
WHEN?
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 from 8:30 to
12:30
WHERE?
Union League Club of Chicago, main Lounge,
65 West Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL
INFO:
This is the second
detailed analysis of workforce and
economic trends produced by the Center
for Governmental Studies and the Office
for Social Policy Research, both at
Northern Illinois University and the
Center for Tax and Budget
Accountability. Statewide data as well
as data on individual regions and
counties will be presented in the
report.
WHAT?
Making the Connection Basic Training
WHEN?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
WHERE?
Naperville, IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services the session contains practical
information in an easy to understand format
regarding many programs available to assist low
income persons.
Register Here
WHAT?
Making the Connection: Public Benefits and
Single Adults & Public Benefits for Youths up to
21
WHEN?
March 5,
2008
WHERE?
Naperville, IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Making the Connection: Mental Health and Public
Benefits & Understanding Spenddown
WHEN? March
6, 2008
WHERE?Naperville,
IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Understanding Appeals & Domestic Violence and
Public Benefits
WHEN?
March
18, 2008
WHERE?Naperville,
IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Immigrants and Public Benefits & Putting the
Pieces Together
WHEN?
March 19,
2008
WHERE?Naperville,
IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services
Register Here
WHAT?
Making the Connection Basic Training
WHEN?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
WHERE?
Naperville, IL
Presented by the DuPage Federation on Human
Services the session contains practical
information in an easy to understand format
regarding many programs available to assist low
income persons.
Register Here
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Do you have something to share in the
Weekly Review?
Please email
Chrissy Mancini
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