By Capitol News Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois budget officials said Thursday that revenues are flowing into state coffers at a faster pace than previously estimated, meaning lawmakers will have more money to work with as they try to finalize a new budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget officially raised its revenue estimate for the current fiscal year by more than $1.4 billion and by $842 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
Those figures are similar to the latest revised estimates from the General Assembly’s budget monitoring agency, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, which said last week that revenues for the current year would go up about $2 billion while next year’s revenues would be $792 million more than previously forecasted.
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability reports the state is actually bringing in $45.6 billion in the current fiscal year that ends June 30. That’s more than $2 billion more than the previous projections released in March. A revised report to lawmakers says the revised revenue estimate for the coming fiscal year is now $41.1 billion, or up $792 million from the previous report.
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Comptroller Susana Mendoza in conversation with Derek Cantù
Despite the reduced bill backlog, Illinois still needs to pay back more than $3 billion the state borrowed from the Federal Reserve last year. Additionally, lawmakers tasked with negotiating the fiscal year 2022 state budget say the state faces at least a $1.4 billion deficit.
Although the state will receive $7.5 billion in federal stimulus money under the American Rescue Plan, Mendoza is cautioning lawmakers to not be in a hurry to spend the whole sum. Instead, she’s urging them to set aside some of those ARP dollars for Illinois’ severely depleted rainy day fund.
State gets a surprise $2 billion more in revenue projections
Greg Bishop, Journal-Courier
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Illinois collected more taxes than initially thought in the current fiscal year, according to a bipartisan commission.
There’s also an increase of more than three-quarters of a billion dollars for the coming fiscal year.
As lawmakers craft the budget for next fiscal year, they’re getting revised estimates from the bipartisan, bicameral Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.
A new report from the commission obtained by The Center Square shows the state actually is bringing in $45.6 billion in the fiscal year that ends June 30. That’s more than $2 billion more than the previous projections, released in March.
Mendoza says she’s reviewing federal relief rules
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza says her office is reviewing federal guidance about how the state can use federal tax dollars as part of the COVID-19 relief package enacted earlier this year.
Illinois’ state budget is set to get nearly $8 billion over two years, but federal guidance says it can’t be used for debt.
It’s unclear if guidance will change before the May 31 deadline to pass a budget.
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