Tag: state budget

Retirees plead for extra pension funding in new state budget

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://newschannel20.com/news/local/retirees-plead-for-extra-pension-funding-in-new-state-budget

Excerpt:

Retired public service workers gathered Monday to urge lawmakers to put more money into state pension funds.

The pension situation in Illinois is often referred to as a crisis because as of June 2021, the unfunded pension liabilities were almost $140 billion, according to a Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability report.

That is money the state has promised to retirees who say they need it to live.

There’s a proposal in this year’s budget to put half a billion dollars toward pension debt on top of the required payments from the state.

Author(s): Jordan Elder

Publication Date: 7 Mar 2022

Publication Site: News Channel 20

Lamont will ask lawmakers to resist the urge to spend big in next CT budget

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://ctmirror.org/2022/02/08/lamont-will-ask-lawmakers-to-resist-the-urge-to-spend-big-in-next-ct-budget/

Excerpt:

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing important in the budget. Connecticut is in the midst of a two-year plan to put nearly $6 billion in federal coronavirus aid to work to bolster its schools, health care system, economy, and state and local governments.

While the plan is generating big surpluses in state finances, the jury is still out on the overall Connecticut comeback. And since the state will invariably face a fiscal shock in 2024 — when $6 billion in federal aid has expired — Lamont is cautious about tackling anything more ambitious right now.

….

The state has the legal maximum in its rainy day fund, $3.1 billion or 15% of annual operating expenses, and already made a supplemental $1.6 billion payment last fall to reduce pension debt.

But with a nearly $2.5 billion surplus projected for the current fiscal year, the state can keep its reserves full, reduce more pension debt and help do more for those hardest hit by the pandemic, Walker said. 

Author(s): Keith Phaneuf

Publication Date: 8 Feb 2022

Publication Site: CT Mirror

California budget surplus is big enough to give every resident $1,100 stimulus check, state lawmaker says

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://ktla.com/news/california/california-budget-surplus-is-big-enough-to-give-every-resident-1100-stimulus-check-state-lawmaker-says/

Excerpt:

In a video released online, Republican State Sen. Brian Jones used grains of rice to break down the projected budget surplus which, as of January, was estimated at $45.7 billion.

“If each grain of rice is $100,000, that means California’s $45 billion surplus is taxes over-collected by this much,” Jones explained as he shifted the large pile of rice around with his hand.

So what to do with all that money?

According to the state senator, the amount is enough to send every Californian a tax rebate of $1,125, or $4,500 for a family of four.

More stimulus checks are a possibility because the surplus is likely to exceed California’s constitutional limit as set by the voter-approved Proposition 4, or what’s more commonly known as the “Gann Limit“. That essentially restricts the amount of tax revenue the state can spend while giving lawmakers options on what to do with the leftover funds — including giving it back to taxpayers in the form of a rebate.

Author(s): Tracy Bloom, Ashley Zavala

Publication Date: 3 Feb 2022

Publication Site: KTLA

Keep fiscal responsibility in Illinois’ next budget

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/2/6/22917731/pritzker-budget-legislature-pensions-college-illinois-health-insurance-editorial

Excerpt:

For example, Pritzker wants to set aside $500 million to pre-pay pensions. To do that, he would take $300 million out of the unexpected extra revenue this year, and $200 millino will come out of the 2023 General Fund budget.

In Illinois politics, pension underfunding is like the weather. Everyone complains, but no one does anything about it. Why? It’s hard to do, and laboring to fix pensions doesn’t resonate with voters. There is little political bang for the buck. That’s why state pensions have been underfunded year after year for a century.

There is value in prepaying pension debt beyond what is required by the so-called ramp, as Pritzker proposes. Because of double compounding — less money must be borrowed to be repaid with interest and investments on the added money yield more returns — $500 million spent now will save the state $1.8 billion later.

Author(s): Editorial Board

Publication Date: 6 Feb 2022

Publication Site: Chicago Sun-Times

Pritzker budget proposal to include extra $500 million in pension payments

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/2/2/22914390/pritzker-budget-proposal-illinois-2023-general-assembly-spending-debt-pensions

Graphic:

Excerpt:

Citing an improved economic outlook in the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest budget proposal will devote an extra $500 million to Illinois’ nearly insolvent pension funds, pump $200 million into a “rainy day” fund and tamp down the state’s unpaid bill backlog — all while providing $1 billion in tax cuts, freezes and rebates, administration officials said Wednesday.

Pritzker was scheduled to outline the ambitious $45.4 billion election-year spending plan during his “State of the State” speech at noon in Springfield, in a downsized event held at the Old State Capitol Building due to a massive winter storm sweeping the state.

In a media preview ahead of the speech, the governor’s top advisers claimed the new spending plan keeps the state on track to end in the black for back-to-back years for the first time in 25 years.

Author(s): Mitchell Armentrout

Publication Date: 2 Feb 2022

Publication Site: Chicago Sun-Times

ILLINOIS FORWARD 2023: ONLY PENSION, BUDGET REFORM CAN SAVE TAXPAYERS WHEN FEDERAL AID ENDS

Mary Pat Campbell

Link:https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/illinois-forward-2023-only-pension-budget-reform-can-save-taxpayers-when-federal-aid-ends/

Graphic:

Excerpt:

Spending in the state budget actually has increased – significantly – under Gov. J.B. Pritzker relative to baseline expectations in the state budget. Even if lawmakers and the governor make no further increases to spending in the fiscal year 2023 budget, which is unlikely given that Pritzker has proposed spending increases in each February budget address of his term, then total spending during Pritzker’s first term will be up nearly $5 billion, or 3% higher than when he took office.

Author(s): Adam Schuster

Publication Date: accessed 2 Feb 2022

Publication Site: Illinois Policy Institute

New CT budget has an unprecedented built-in surplus of $2.3 billion

Mary Pat Campbell
New CT budget has an unprecedented built-in surplus of $2.3 billion

Excerpt:

Question: When was the last time a Connecticut legislature was poised to adopt a state budget with a $2.3 billion surplus built into it?

Answer: Never, until now.

Democrats and Republicans alike were expected to vote for the $46.4 billion, two-year package when it goes before the House of Representatives on Tuesday. But even though about 5% of the funds appears to be left unspent, the anticipated surplus would become a payment into the state’s pension accounts.

That’s because the budget, which boosts spending 2.6% in the fiscal year beginning July 1 and by 3.9% in 2022-23, really is the first of its kind under a new system designed to bring stability to state finances.

Connecticut is four years into a savings program that limits spending of income tax receipts tied to capital gains and other investment earnings, but this is the first time since 2017 that analysts are projecting big revenues from Wall Street before legislators actually approve a budget.

Author(s): Keith Phaneuf

Publication Date: 8 June 2021

Publication Site: CT Mirror

Illinois Budget Leaves Billions in Federal Rescue Funds on the Table

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.centerforilpolitics.org/articles/illinois-budget-leaves-billions-in-federal-rescue-funds-on-the-table#new_tab

Excerpt:

The federal government will soon give the cash-strapped state of Illinois $8.1 billion to cope with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but next year state officials plan to use less than a third of the windfall.

That means that some $5.5 billion in unspent federal cash will remain in state accounts until lawmakers figure out how they want to use it. The state treasurer’s office will invest the money, along with the $38 billion it is already responsible for investing. 

Ironically, Illinois is supposed to get its money faster than many other states because of its urgent need. Most states will get their money from the American Rescue Plan Act in two payments, a year apart. But Illinois is expected to get its full share all at once in the coming months, because it has a high unemployment rate. 

The fact that Illinois is letting so much money sit in the bank, even when it has a long list of pressing financial needs, has a lot to do with the rules the federal government wrote for how states can use the Rescue Act money. 

Author(s): Daniel C. Vock

Publication Date: 6 June 2021

Publication Site: Center for Illinois Politics

Schumer spokesman: Federal pandemic relief eliminates NYS deficit

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://nypost.com/2021/03/08/schumer-federal-pandemic-relief-eliminates-nys-deficit/

Excerpt:

The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package passed by the US Senate wipes out New York State’s projected budget deficit — possibly negating the need for hefty tax hikes or spending cuts, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said Monday.

“Ok. Thanks to @SenSchumer NYS budget deficit for this year is…..Zero, nada, niete, zilch (NY terms),” Schumer spokesman Angelo Roefaro tweeted.

The American Rescue Plan provides state government coffers with $12.6 billion in unrestricted aid, a measure championed by Schumer, the New York senior senator. The measure passed the Senate in a 50-49 vote and is expected to clear the Democratic-led House of Representatives on Tuesday and delivered to President Biden for approval.

Author(s): Carl Campanile, Bernadette Hogan

Publication Date: 8 March 2021

Publication Site: NY Post

Schumer spokesman: Federal pandemic relief eliminates NYS deficit

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://nypost.com/2021/03/08/schumer-federal-pandemic-relief-eliminates-nys-deficit/

Excerpt:

The American Rescue Plan provides state government coffers with $12.6 billion in unrestricted aid, a measure championed by Schumer, the New York senior senator. The measure passed the Senate in a 50-49 vote and is expected to clear the Democratic-led House of Representatives on Tuesday and delivered to President Biden for approval.

Asked if the geyser of pandemic relief eliminates the needs for tax hikes or spending cuts, Roefaro told The Post, “the statement speaks for itself.”

Roefaro continued, “How NY decides its budgetary policy is a matter for the state legislature and the administration. Our job was to deliver resources to help NY confront and overcome Covid and it’s impacts, including the fiscal impact. And we did that fully and completely.”

Author(s): Carl Campanile, Bernadette Hogan

Publication Date: 8 March 2021

Publication Site: NY Post

State budget shaping up as embarrassment of riches—for now

Mary Pat Campbell
State budget shaping up as embarrassment of riches—for now

Excerpt:

Governor Cuomo’s Division of the Budget (DOB) and the Legislature’s fiscal committees have agreed to boost New York State’s revenue projection for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 by $2.45 billion—the latest in a series of upward adjustments that have dramatically improved Albany’s short-term outlook, even as sexual harassment allegations against the governor will complicate negotiations towards a new budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1.

The Consensus Revenue and Economic Forecast issued late last night by DOB splits the difference between the governor’s budget agency, which wasn’t budging from its already improved 30-day amended financial plan outlook, and a very optimistic projection from the Assembly Ways and Means Committee staff, which forecast $5 billion more in revenue through FY 2022. The Senate Finance Committee staff estimate came in a total $3.4 billion higher than the governor’s latest number.

Author(s): E.J. McMahon

Publication Date: 2 March 2021

Publication Site: Empire Center for Public Policy