Jan 24
By Andrew Thomason | Illinois Statehouse News
SPRINGFIELD — llinois’ 12 percent increase in higher education spending this year isn’t going to benefit students. Instead, the additional funding for fiscal 2012 is going into the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, to address its underfunded pension program.
“These SURS appropriations do not go to individual institutions or agencies and are not available to be used for educational purposes,” according to the footnote in a study released Monday by Illinois State University, or ISU.
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Jan 20
By Steve Lord
GENEVA— It was near the end of the Metro West legislative breakfast Thursday morning that State Rep. Michael Fortner summed up two hours in two words.
“The two biggest issues are budget and pensions,” Fortner, R-West Chicago, said.
Those are indeed the biggest issues on the mind of local governments, which took a beating in 2011 from both the state budget process and pension discussions.
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Jan 12
By Elizabeth Stoever
St. Charles, IL — Over the years, those living near Villa Maria Road and Weber Drive in northeastern St. Charles got used to tall fences and barbed wire surrounding a 45-acre youth prison adjacent to their homes.
The site, formerly the Valley View Youth Center, once housed 300 male juveniles. But after the prison was closed by the state in 2002 to reduce spending, the buildings started falling apart and were the target of severe vandalism while hundreds of yards of sidewalks and parking lot pavement buckled…
But with the help of legislators, including State Rep. Tim Schmitz, the Kane County Forest Preserve negotiated its way into acquiring the land from the state in 2007…
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Jan 05
By BENJAMIN YOUNT – Illinois Statehouse News
SPRINGFIELD – The arithmetic behind Gov. Pat Quinn’s first budget proposal of the new year is grim.
Illinois will be facing an $800 million deficit within three years, despite tax revenue projected to grow by more than $1 billion a year.
Illinois’ fiscal reality is bleak, said Kelly Kraft, the governor’s budget spokeswoman.
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Dec 27
By BENJAMIN YOUNT – Illinois Statehouse News
SPRINGFIELD – Call it the year of the tax increase.
Illinois’ tax increase vote in January dominated this year’s session here.
Illinois Statehouse News takes a look back at the year, taking stock of the work from state lawmakers. Our year in review looks at the abolition of the death penalty, workers’ compensation reform, education reform, and of course the tax hike and its impact…
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