 The study ranked Illinois' budget among the 10 worst, highlighting
the substantial difference between the amount of revenue Illinois
takes in and the amount the state spends. In fact, the $13 billion
budget deficit is among the three largest in the nation.The
deficit, created largely by a pattern of overspending over the past
seven years, was a primary factor in Illinois' poor ranking.
Illinois' 47.3 percent gap between revenues and spending was second
only to California. And, while state revenues in Illinois are down
since the start of the recession, revenues have not dropped as
significantly as in California and other states. Tax receipts in
Illinois, the study reports, are actually marginally better than the
national average.
The Pew Center considered six factors: revenue change, budget
gap, unemployment rate change, foreclosure rate, supermajority
requirements for tax hikes and the Pew Center's Government
Performance Project "money grade." The money grade rates states on
how well they take a long-term perspective on budgets, the
transparency of the budget process, balance between revenue and
spending, and the effectiveness of contracting and other financial
controls. Illinois was one of only five states to score a C-minus on
the money grade, and only California and Rhode Island received lower
scores.
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Unfortunately, according to the Pew Center, it's not likely the road
to financial recovery will be easy. The report pointed out that the
state "piled up huge backlogs of Medicaid bills and borrowed money
to pay its pension obligations." Because the state already had a
substantial deficit before the national recession, the study
suggested it will be even more difficult to regain fiscal stability.
"The state's current budget still relies heavily on borrowing and
paying bills late," the study added.
[Text from
Illinois Senate Republicans]
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