Civic Federation: Rauner’s budget proposal ‘ precariously balanced’
The Civic Federation doesn’t support Gov. Bruce Rauner’s latest budget proposal because it is “precariously balanced” — claiming there aren’t enough contingency plans and it doesn’t effectively work to eliminate the state’s massive bill backlog.
“Given recent history, the renewal of political stalemate could be the gravest threat facing the state,” according to the Civic Federation’s Institute for Illinois’ Fiscal Sustainability report released Wednesday morning.
“Unfortunately, the possibility of renewed political stalemate hangs over Springfield, and it would be financially reckless to wait until after the upcoming election to start working toward long- term stabilization,” Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said in a statement. “The state narrowly avoided a downgrade to junk status last year, and another impasse could squander recent progress.”
The civic watchdog’s report says the group “cannot support” Rauner’s recommended budget because it is “only precariously balanced,” citing a projected surplus of $ 351 million that depends on “various aggressive assumptions” totaling $ 1.8 billion in savings or additional revenues.
“It is not clear whether these assumptions are backed up by contingency plans,” the report says.
The report says the budget again relies on the selling of the James R. Thompson Center for the third year in a row and on “speculative group health savings.”
The Civic Federation also says it doesn’t support a budget that doesn’t have a plan to eliminate the unpaid bill backlog. The surplus would go toward the bill backlog— which was at $ 6.88 billion on Tuesday— but it’s “unclear how the state will pay the remaining backlog in future years.”
The Civic Federation also says it doesn’t support the governor’s proposal to shift the normal cost of pensions to local school districts outside Chicago over four years, while making Chicago Public Schools pay for their normal pension costs starting next year. There are some parts of Rauner’s budget the group supports, such as reducing the state’s role in financing health insurance costs for teachers and universities and community college employees and retirees.
The Civic Federation has several recommendations as well, with the No. 1 priority to “enact a full- year, balanced budget for FY2019 and avoid sliding back into another fiscal crisis.”
Rauner in his February budget address said he’d help balance the budget through a change in health insurance benefits for retired teachers and state employees — and a cut to Chicago Public Schools teacher pensions.
He’s also proposing the removal of group health insurance for state employees from collective bargaining — a move that will require legislative support that may prove difficult to get. That would save an estimated $ 470 million, Rauner argued, while adding the state would have an extra $ 351 million in surplus to help pay down debts within his plan.