Are we looking at a crisis or a chronic condition? Illinois’ fiscal situation has been precarious for at least a decade – and much longer if pension liabilities are considered. From FY 2003 to 2008, which were good years for economic activity and revenue collection, the General Assembly and...

As the U.S. continues to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, state governments are faced with the challenge of prudent fiscal management considering the pandemic’s uncertain course into the near future. However, as reported elsewhere, states' revenues have largely fared better...

Illinois has a chronic, structural fiscal problem so huge that it cannot be eliminated by increases in economic growth alone, increases in taxes alone, or—alas— aggressive pension changes alone.1 In early December 2013 the General Assembly passed, and Governor Quinn quickly signed, a major...

Despite enormous recent challenges, Illinois’ economy remains relatively healthy compared to other states. Median family income in Illinois has remained above the national average since at least 1984. After a relatively prosperous period in the late 1990s when median family income in Illinois...

The state of Illinois has operated for many years with a structurally unbalanced budget in the sense that, under the policies in place at the time, government revenue generated by the tax system was insufficient to pay for government spending under current law. This report from IGPA's Fiscal...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused upheaval in the U.S. economy but there is great uncertainty about the depth and duration of the disruption. This report forecasts that tax revenue will plummet. The size of the revenue loss depends on the severity and length of the pandemic and economic...