Illinois state budget (2009-2010)

Note: This article was last updated in 2010. Click here for more recent information on state budgets and finances.

## Contents

* 1 2008-2009 budget crisis
* 2 Budget transparency
* 2.1 State budget websites and analysis
* 2.2 Government tools
* 2.3 Economic stimulus transparency
* 2.3.1 Error in ARRP
* 2.4 Independent transparency sites
* 2.4.1 Illinois Open Gov
* 2.5 Public employee salary information
* 3 Accounting principles
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
* 5.1 Helpful budget links
* 6 Additional reading
* 7 Footnotes

FY 2010 Operating appropriations by fund group, FY 2010:[1]

* General funds: 53.7%
* Special state funds: 22%
* Federal trust funds: 16.7%
* Highway funds: 4%
* Debt service funds: 2.9%
* State trust funds: 0.6%

Total cuts made after passage of FY 2010 budget[2]

Category  | Amount cut (in millions)

|

K-12 education | 85.2
Higher education | 6.7
Public assistance | 41.1
Medicaid | 140.0
Transportation | 1.7
Other | 108.2
Total | 382.9

Fiscal year 2010 tax collections compared with projections used in adopting FY 2010 Budgets (millions)[2]

Category  | Amount

|

Sales tax original estimate | 6,394
Sales tax revised estimate | 6,200
Personal income tax original estimate | 9,206
Personal income tax revised estimate | 8,460
Corporate income tax estimate | 1,133
Corporate income tax estimate | 1,310

General fund[3]

Category  | FY 2009 amount in millions actual  | FY 2010 amount in millions estimated

|
|

Beginning balance | 141 | 280
Revenues | 27,551 | 25,828
Adjustments | 1,593 | 2,167
Total resources | 29,285 | 28,275
Expenditures | 26,982 | 23,714
Adjustments | 2,023 | 4,281
Ending balance | 280 | 280
Budget stabilization fund | 276 | 276

The Illinois state government appropriated $67,693,357,273.26 to be spent in the 2007 fiscal year.[4]

Fiscal year  | General funds expenditures  | % change from previous year

|
|

1999  | $21,527,000,000[5] | 9.4%[5]
2000  | $22,976,000,000[5] | 6.7%[5]
2001  | $24,583,000,000[5] | 7.0%[5]
2002  | $25,125,000,000[5] | 2.2%[5]
2003  | $24,861,000,000[6] | -1.0%[5]
2004  | $26,365,000,000[7] | 6.0%[7]
2005  | $28,247,000,000[8] | 7.1%[8]
2006  | $28,452,000,000[9] | 0.7%[9]
2007  | $30,116,000,000[5] | 5.8%[5]
2008  | $27,162,717,000[1] | -9.8%
2009  | $29,787,690,000[10] | 9.7%
2010  | $26,031,201,000[10] | -7.7%
2011 - proposed  | $24,508,432,000[10] | -5.8%

## 2008-2009 budget crisis[edit]

See: Illinois state budget (2008-2009)

## Budget transparency[edit]

See also: Evaluation of Illinois state website

### State budget websites and analysis[edit]

As of May 2009, the Illinois Office of Management and Budget website did not post copies of the budget proposals from previous fiscal years. This was unusual, given that many other states' budget offices keep archived copies of past budgets.[11] For the 2011 budget, the state adopted a more transparent method of publishing its budget, providing the information on a quarterly and annual basis. The new process would not affect how agency's budgets would be audited. These reports would continue to be released a year or more after revenue and costs were available.[12]

The Illinois Policy Institute posted the PDF budget books from 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.[13]

According to the Illinois Policy Institute, Illinois ranks 48th in economic performance, doing better than Michigan and Ohio:[14]

* 42nd in economic outlook. Neighboring Indiana and Missouri rank well ahead in terms of future opportunity, at 12th and 17th respectively.
* 44th in GDP growth, averaging only 3.83% over the last decade. Illinois GDP growth had declined since 1977 from 7.6% to 5.9%.
* 46th in debt burden. Illinois continues to spend government revenue growth on government expansion rather than funding past debt obligations, including pensions.
* 44th in personal income growth over the past decade, averaging at 3.83% while the U.S. average was 4.19%.
* 47th in employment growth from 1977 till 2006, ranking ahead of only Michigan, Ohio and Louisiana.
* 37th in improving its standard of living, growing at only 1.13% per year over the past decade. While Illinois ranks relatively high in standard of living (18th), the state continues to fall down the ranks.
* 48th in net migration, with over 727,150 people having left the state from 1997-2006.
* Seventh highest in median property taxes paid.
* 14th highest overall tax burden in the nation.
* Ninth highest in property tax burden.
* Fourth highest gas tax burden (approximately 40 cents per gallon).
* First in sales tax burden (Chicago and Cook County).
* Illinois is shrinking in wealth, once ranking as high as sixth in per capita personal income and dropping to 18th today.
* The growth of the Illinois economy has lagged behind the rest of the country for each of the last three decades.

### Government tools[edit]

As of March 2009, Gov. Pat Quinn launched Budget Illinois, which summarized the proposed budget for 2010, offered budget figures and detailed a capital projects list, including information on the recommended and actual appropriations and expenditures going forward.[15]

According to Joe Calomino, Illinois State Director of Americans for Prosperity:

> "[Illinois's] current opaque spending process creates the perception, or possible reality, of legislators or bureaucrats using the state budget to fund unnecessary, wasteful, or even corrupt programs, confident that most Illinoisans will never know about it. Giving taxpayers the tools to understand where and how their money is being spent will make state government more accountable and reduce waste, fraud, and abuse."[16]

However, thanks to leaders on the local level, transparency was spreading as of 2009.[17]

"Open Book" is a searchable database of state contracts and campaign contributions that is hosted by the Illinois State Comptroller. Also available from the Comptroller's Office is aggregate expenditure information that can be sorted in a variety of ways. Line-item information was not available as of 2009.

House Bill 35 was a 2009 reintroduction of Rep. Michael Tryon's 2008 transparency bill, House Bill 4765, and would require the state to create and maintain a website on state employees’ salaries, state contracts, state expenditures, state tax credits and revocations and suspensions of state professional licenses. HB 35 was sent to Governor Pat Quinn on June 12, 2009.[18] The only high-ranking state official listed on the site, however, was Gov. Quinn; other state employees, including Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Secretary of State Jesse White, and legislators were not included.[19]

Illinois launched Sunshine.Illinois.gov to publish state expenditures, grants, public facilities’ inspection reports and more.[20]

The following table is helpful in evaluating the level of transparency provided by "Open Book" and the Comptroller's aggregate expenditure website.

Criteria for evaluating spending databases State database | Searchability | Grants | Contracts | Line item expenditures | Dept./agency budgets | Public employee salary

|
|
|
|
|
|

Open Books |

| N

| N

Comptroller's aggregate expenditure website |

| N

### Economic stimulus transparency[edit]

* In August 2010, the federal government approved a jobs bill, which included $550 million in additional federal Medicaid funding for Illinois and $974 million for the state total.

* It was estimated that Illinois would receive at least $6.3 billion in federal economic stimulus funding.[21]

Three Illinois projects were noted in Senator Coburn's and Senator McCain's "Summertime Blues, 100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues" report. One project awarded $712,883 in stimulus funds to Northwestern University to create computer systems that would gather jokes from the Internet and use them to create hilarious presentations that mimic real-life comedians.[22] Another project used $18 million of bonding authority granted to McHenry County from the stimulus bill for a sports complex.[22] In addition, the report noted that the University of Illinois received half a million dollars to study the relationship between taxes and obesity.[22]

According to an audit conducted on the $242 million weatherization program, energy efficiency upgrades on low-income homes repeatedly failed during final inspection.[23] At least 12 of the homes were left in a state that caused risk to the occupants.

#### Error in ARRP[edit]

According to Recovery.gov, stimulus funding would go to 884 congressional districts, though there are only 435.[24][25]

The recovery website showed that money was dispensed to six phantom districts in Illinois. In fact, nearly $500,000 was directed towards the 20th District, which ceased to exist after the 2000 census.[26]

### Independent transparency sites[edit]

* The Illinois Policy Institute launched an Independent transparency site, www.OpenIllinois.org.

#### Illinois Open Gov[edit]

Illinois Open Gov is a transparency website sponsored by the organization.[27][28] As of 2009, the site listed state employee salary, retiree pensions and vendor information. The site stated plans to eventually include all state spending.

Illinois Open Gov exceeded the then-current state-sponsored site for government employee salary information by also factoring in information about employee benefits and providing information about retired state employees.[29]

The site also allows others to repurpose the data by offering it in Excel or CSV file formats. It also hosts a forum for public conversation to discuss particular spending items.[29]

### Public employee salary information[edit]

See also: Illinois state government salary

## Accounting principles[edit]

See also: Illinois government accounting principles

As of 2009, the Illinois Auditor General was William G. Holland. Since August 1992, William G. Holland had served as Auditor General of the State of Illinois. He was appointed by the General Assembly to a 10-year term commencing August 1, 1992. He was unanimously re-appointed to a second 10-year term, effective August 1, 2002.[30] The Auditor General is a constitutional officer of the state charged with reviewing the obligation, expenditure, receipt and use of public funds. The office issues approximately 150 post-audits of state agencies each year, reviewing an agency's financial records, compliance with state and federal laws and regulations, and program performance after the close of its fiscal year. Report digests (summaries) and full audit reports of released audits are available online.[31]

As of 2009, the Illinois State Comptroller was Daniel W. Hynes, who had served three terms since first elected in November 1998. The Comptroller's Office was created by the Constitutional Convention of 1970 as an expanded replacement for the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts.[32]

The Institute for Truth in Accounting] (IFTA) rated Illinois “worst” in filing the state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the annual report of state and local governmental entities. IFTA rated 22 states timely, 22 states tardy, and six states as worst. IFTA did not consider Illinois’s CAFRs, and those of the other states, to be accurate representations of the state’s financial condition because the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) basis did not include significant liabilities for the pension plans and for other post employment benefits, such as health care.[33] Illinois’s CAFRs are published online by the Illinois State Comptroller.[34]

Credit rating | Fitch | Moody's | S&P

|
|
|

Illinois[35] | A | A1 | AA-

Governor Pat Quinn joined with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and members of the Illinois Reform Commission on August 17, 2009 to sign bills to increase transparency and accountability in state government. The legislation strengthened the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and ensured the state’s boards and commissions were open and accessible to the public. The website makes the state’s expenditures and employee pay data available through a single, searchable portal: Accountability.Illinois.gov.[36]

## See also[edit]

* Illinois government sector lobbying
* Illinois state government salary
* Illinois public pensions
* Illinois state budget and finances

## External links[edit]

* State Budget Solutions, Illinois
* Model transparency legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council is available at this link.
* Illinois Policy Institute
* OpenIllinois.org
* Illinois Office of Management and Budget
* Illinois State Government homepage (dead link)
* Illinois Government News Network
* Illinois Government spending
* Illinois Open Gov
* Illinois Transparency & Accountability Portal

### Helpful budget links[edit]

* Office of the Governor, Pat Quinn (dead link)
* Illinois State Budget
* Illinois Fiscal Year 2010 Budget
* Illinois Recovery
* Illinois State Budget Book Fiscal Year 2009
* The Governor's Office of Management and Budget prepares the governor's annual state budget and advises the governor on the availability of revenues and the allocation of those resources to agency programs.
* The Illinois State Comptroller provides a number of fiscal reports, including appropriations, bond indebtedness, annual reports, executive summaries, fee impositions, fiscal state of the state, and tax expenditure reports.
* Illinois Was Broke, supported by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a nonprofit company

## Additional reading[edit]

* Gov. Pat Quinn, "2010 State of the State Address," January 13, 2010

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `case`
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Association of Governors and National Association of State Budget Officers Fiscal Survey of States Table 1-C June 2010
3. ↑ National Governors Association and National Association of State Budget Officers Fiscal Survey of States June 2010 (dead link)
4. ↑ Illinois Comptroller Office, "In-Depth Analysis of Expenditures"
5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 Executive Summary FY2007
6. ↑ Executive Summary FY2003
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Executive Summary FY2004
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Executive Summary FY2005
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Executive Summary FY2006
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 [1] (dead link)
11. ↑ Illinois Policy Institute, "Where can I find past copies of the Illinois state budget?" May 11, 2009 (dead link)
12. ↑ Chicago Press Release, Governor’s Office of Management and Budget Improves Transparency by Releasing Quarterly Financial Reports – Financial Statements Now Available Without Delay, Dec. 9, 2010
13. ↑ Illinois Policy Institute - Budget books (dead link)
14. ↑ Illinois Policy Institute, "Illinois Fast Facts." (dead link)
15. ↑ State of Illinois - Budget, March 19, 2009
16. ↑ Helium.com, "Should the salaries of all Illinois state employees be available for public viewing on a Web site, as suggested in a bill in the General Assembly?"
17. ↑ Illinois Policy Institute, "Compass Online: 'Citizen Action: A Growing Movement,'" January 22, 2009 (dead link)
18. ↑ Bill Status, Illinois House Bill 35 (2009)
19. ↑ State Journal Register "State worker salary site lacks prominent officials" Aug. 18, 2009
20. ↑ Civs Source Online, Illinois launches sunshine portal, March 18, 2010
21. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Stimulus Spending by State"
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Summertime Blues, 100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues" August 2010
23. ↑ Texas Watchdog, Sounds like Texas: Illinois stimulus program to weatherize homes marked by shoddy work, Oct. 20, 2010
24. ↑ $6.4 Billion Stimulus goes to Phantom Districts, Watchdog.org, November 17, 2009
25. ↑ Stimulus Creates Jobs in Non-Existent Congressional Districts, Watchdog.org, November 16, 2009
26. ↑ Illinois, Watchdog.org, November 17, 2009
27. ↑ Illinois Channel, Illinois Open Government Webpage Now Up and Running, December 2, 2009
28. ↑ Open Illinois, New Transparency Site!, December 2, 2009
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `IPI`
30. ↑ Office of the Illinois Auditor General Web site, accessed October 20, 2009
31. ↑ Office of the Illinois Auditor General Web site, accessed October 20, 2009
32. ↑ Office of the Illinois State Comptroller Web site, accessed October 20, 2009
33. ↑ Institute for Truth in Accounting, “The Truth About Balanced Budgets—A Fifty State Study,” Page 35
34. ↑ Office of the Illinois State Comptroller, Research and Fiscal Information Department Web site, accessed October 20, 2009
35. ↑ California State Treasurer, “Comparison of Other States’ General Obligation Bond Ratings”
36. ↑ Gov. Quinn Press Release, “Governor Quinn Signs Major Legislation to Increase Transparency in State Government,” August 17, 2009

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