2007 State of Illinois Budget Summary

. . . and the State of Illinois is . . . tenuous at best
. . . Here's a "budget" summary:

Overview

• General Funds spending of $25.8 billion is up $1.4 billion or about 6%;
• The four-year total for the Blagojevich administration is $3.5 billion more than when he took office, or $1 billion more than the $2.5 billion increase Illinois saw during George Ryan’s tenure.
• More than $250 million in spending added to the Governor’s original budget proposal in order to get it passed.

Record-Setting Budget

• State Government spending at an all-time high;
• State debt is at an all-time high;
• Backlog of unpaid bills at an all-time high;
• Under-funds the worst funded pension system in the nation;
• Sets the stage for future pension raids;
• Ignores warnings of Fitch Ratings, making a downgrade almost inevitable;
• Illinois is 45th in the Nation in Job Growth since Blagojevich took office, trailing all other surrounding states.

Aren’t You Glad You Are Paying?

• $1 million for Bullying Prevention;
• $30,000 for an exhibit to honor legislators from Chicago State University;
• $200,000 to NEIU to conduct a study on the North Atlantic Slave Trade;
• More than $7 million in lump sums for the Department of Human Services for undisclosed uses;
• $50,000 for the South Suburban Disproportionate Minority Confinement Foundation;
• To cover the cost of insurance for the same-sex domestic partners of state employees.

Education Funding

Education gets $438 million increase. (Financed by short-changing the Teachers’ Retirement System by $495 million. Once again teachers are forced to use their own pension system to fund education in Illinois.)

How the education money is allocated:

• $170 increase in the foundation level to $5,334 at a cost of $239 million
• $56.7 million increase for Mandated Categoricals (which mainly benefit suburban schools. The $239 million to $56.7 million ratio (less than one to four) is about half the traditional ratio of one to two);
• $10 million increase for flat per-pupil grants;
• $45 million for the Governor’s Universal Pre-school initiative;
• $10 million for class-size reduction grants.

Veterans Scholarships

• No money added to the budget to pay for the Governor’s Veterans Scholarships which means the schools (and therefore other students) end up footing the bill.

Pension Raid Continues as Planned

• Budget underfunds worst funded pension systems in the nation by $1.1 billion;
• Budget does nothing to reverse the expected rating downgrade predicted by Fitch Ratings;
• Budget does nothing to prevent more post-election raids;
• Teachers Retirement System shorted by $495 million;
• State Universities Retirement System shorted by $140 million;
• Other systems shorted by $498 million;

Chicago Teachers Pensions

• The final budget adds $10 million for Chicago Teachers Pension
• Chicago Teachers Pension System gets fully funded ($75.2 million, up $300,000 from last year)
• Chicago Plan is 80% funded, while TRS is 60% funded.

Now think about your own personal household or small business budget for 2007. Would you ever dream of doing these kinds of things? We think our favorite line item is the $1 million for "bullying prevention".