Chicago Civic Federation

Last updated

The Civic Federation is a Chicago-based non-partisan research organization focused on governments in the Chicago area and the state of Illinois. The Civic Federation's mission is to help local and state governments reduce their costs and improve public services by "Promoting opportunities to reform local tax structures; guarding against wasteful expenditure of public funds; and serving as a technical resource to public officials and opinion leaders through non-partisan tax and fiscal research." [1] The Federation was founded to fight corruption, government subsidies, high taxes, and unneeded public enterprise. However it also wanted government to solve the problems of the metropolis. The newspapers adopted Mugwumpery as a way of building support for municipal reform among working-class voters in the late 19th century and the Progressive Era. [2]

Contents

Research focus

The Civic Federation publishes reports and commentary about government tax policies, government services and public expenditures in the Chicago region. Its annual analyses of local government operating budgets evaluate the governments' fiscal policy decisions and provide recommendations for effective financial management. These reports are often cited by the press [3] and have helped guide lawmakers' decisions, as detailed on the Federation’s website. [4] The Federation focuses on the following governments:

Of major interest to the Civic Federation is the impact that public employee pension systems have on government budgets and finance. In standalone pension status reports and government budget analyses, [5] the Civic Federation provides a look at pension funding trends, estimates the accumulated liabilities of the systems and suggests reforms that could improve the fiscal health of the systems. The issue of property tax assessments, collections and appeals is another major focus of the Civic Federation. The Federation has published a number of issue briefs on property tax issues in the Chicago area. [6]

The Federation has also taken on special initiatives [7] in addition to its regular government finance research. Some of those projects include:

The Civic Federation also discusses government finance and policy issues on its blog, [8] updated weekly. The Federation blog has researched topics such as Cook County township government, privatization and tax increment financing or TIF. Federation blog posts accompany its publications and help provide additional commentary and context on those topics as well as provide reactions to current events.

Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability

In 2008 the Federation established the Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability (IIFS), which examines fiscal issues relating to the state of Illinois. Its mission is to "improve the state's decision making process by providing timely fiscal policy analysis and recommendations to state officials, the media, and the public through education and digital outreach." Major funding for IIFS is provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Institute has published numerous studies of Illinois' finances, including:

  • Analyses of the enacted State of Illinois FY2011 and FY2010 budgets;
  • The Cost of the Crisis, [9] an issue brief that estimated how much extra Illinois would spend in borrowing costs due to its deteriorating bond rating;
  • A "Fiscal Rehabilitation" plan that described the basis of Illinois' fiscal crisis and presented the Federation's plan for restoring fiscal solvency to the state's finances; [10]
  • Analyses of the Illinois Governor's proposed FY2011, FY2010 and FY2009 operating and capital budgets;
  • An issue brief on the Illinois Medicaid system. [11]

IIFS also publishes a blog that provides additional information and commentary on state finance issues.

History

The Civic Federation was founded in 1893 as a reform organization by several of Chicago's most prominent citizens, including Jane Addams, Bertha Honore Palmer and Lyman J. Gage. The group united around the need to address concerns about Chicago's economic, political and moral climate at the end of the 19th century. The group's formation was catalyzed by a book by a visiting journalist, William T. Stead, who appealed to the Social Gospel sensibilities of Protestant activists. [12] Gage, president of the First National Bank, and the prominent socialite Bertha Honore Palmer were elected President and First Vice President. The Director of Hull House, Jane Addams, served as a trustee. Chicago-area merchants, educators, bankers, ministers and labor officials joined them as charter members. In its early years, the Civic Federation advocated for social and political reform. It led efforts to improve sanitation and education, as well as improve Chicago-area government efficiency. Steel magnate Clayton Mark, who built Marktown, the planned worker community in Northwest Indiana, served several terms as President of the Civic Federation. [13]

In the 1930s, the Civic Federation transitioned to an organization chiefly interested in improving government efficiency and tax reform. [14] The work of the Federation continues to evolve in the 21st century as a greater emphasis is placed on working with government officials to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of Chicago-area governments. [15]

DePaul University Special Collections and Archives holds the Civic Federation Collection, which contains reports, memoranda, correspondence, press releases, photographs, and other documents relating to the Civic Federation's foundation and operation from 1893, on. [16]

Funding

The Civic Federation is classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity under U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The Civic Federation focuses on educational outreach and policy work, consistent with its tax-exempt status. It accepts no government support.

The Federation receives funding from its members, which include many Chicago area corporations and service firms.

The Civic Federation and Institute for Illinois' Fiscal Sustainability are also supported by a number of foundations including:

  • The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • The Chicago Community Trust
  • The Commercial Club Foundation
  • The Joyce Foundation
  • Motorola Foundation
  • Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust
  • The Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trust
  • The McCormick Foundation
  • The Polk Bros. Foundation
  • The Field Foundation of Illinois
  • Woods Fund of Chicago
  • Crown Family Philanthropies
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Edgar</span> Governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999

James Robert Edgar is an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999. A moderate Republican, he previously served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1977 to 1979 and as the 35th Secretary of State of Illinois from 1981 to 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax increment financing</span> Public financing method

Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is to stimulate private investment in a blighted area that has been designated to be in need of economic revitalization. Similar or related value capture strategies are used around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Chicago</span> Political and legal structure

The government of the City of Chicago, Illinois, United States is divided into executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the various departments. In addition to the mayor, Chicago's two other citywide elected officials are the City Clerk and the City Treasurer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Madigan</span> American politician from Illinois and the Chair of the Illinois Democratic Party

Michael Joseph Madigan is an American politician who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was the longest-serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in the history of the United States, having held the position for all but two years from 1983 to 2021. He served in the Illinois House from 1971 to 2021. He represented the 27th District from 1971 to 1983, the 30th district from 1983 to 1993, and the 22nd district from 1993 to 2021. This made him the body's longest-serving member and the last legislator elected before the Cutback Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Quinn (politician)</span> Governor of Illinois from 2009 to 2015

Patrick Joseph Quinn Jr. is an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Illinois from 2009 to 2015. A Democrat, Quinn began his career as an activist by founding the Coalition for Political Honesty. He was elected lieutenant governor in 2002 and served under governor Rod Blagojevich, and as of 2024 he is the most recent male to serve as Illinois's Lieutenant Governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional Transportation Authority (Illinois)</span> Northeastern Illinois transit agency

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is the financial and oversight body for the three transit agencies in northeastern Illinois; the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace, which are called Service Boards in the RTA Act. RTA serves Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fritchey</span> American politician

John Alden Fritchey IV is a former Democratic Cook County Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Commissioners who represented the 12th district in Chicago from 2010 until 2018 and was a Democratic State Representative in the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 11th District in Chicago from 1997 to 2010. He additionally served as the elected Democratic Committeeman for Chicago's 32nd Ward from 2008 to 2012. According to the Arab-American Institute, Fritchey was one of the longest-serving Arab-American officials in the United States. He is presently President of F4 Consulting, Ltd. In 1998, he created the John Fritchey Youth Foundation, designed to create educational and recreational opportunities for local children through the sponsorship of academic and sports programs. He has additionally supported the Chicago Special Olympics as a repeated participant in the annual Polar Plunge. He presently serves on the Board of Directors of Chicago Gateway Green, a non-profit, public-private partnership dedicated to the greening and beautification of Chicago's expressways, gateways and neighborhoods through landscape enhancement, litter and graffiti removal and the installation of public art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax Policy Center</span>

The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, typically shortened to the Tax Policy Center (TPC), is a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington D.C., United States. A joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, it aims to provide independent analyses of current and longer-term tax issues, and to communicate its analyses to the public and to policymakers. TPC combines national specialists in tax, expenditure, budget policy, and microsimulation modeling to concentrate on five overarching areas of tax policy: fair, simple and efficient taxation, social policy in the tax code, business tax reform, long-term implications of tax and budget choices, and state tax issues.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. that addresses federal budget and fiscal issues. It was founded in 1981 by former United States Representative Robert Giaimo (D-CT) and United States Senator Henry Bellmon (R-OK), and its board of directors includes past heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Government Accountability Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Oklahoma state budget</span>

The Oklahoma State Budget for Fiscal Year 2011, is a spending request by Governor Brad Henry to fund government operations for July 1, 2010–June 30, 2011. Governor Henry and legislative leader approved the budget in May 2010. This was Governor Henry's eight and final budget submitted as governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euro Plus Pact</span>

The Euro-Plus Pact was adopted in March 2011 under EU's Open Method of Coordination, as an intergovernmental agreement between all member states of the European Union, in which concrete commitments were made to be working continuously within a new commonly agreed political general framework for the implementation of structural reforms intended to improve competitiveness, employment, financial stability and the fiscal strength of each country. The plan was advocated by the French and German governments as one of many needed political responses to strengthen the EMU in areas which the European sovereign-debt crisis had revealed as being too poorly constructed.

Clayton Mark, one of the pioneer makers of steel pipe in the United States, was an industrialist in the Chicago area who founded the Mark Manufacturing Company in 1888, a firm for the fabrication and sale of water-well supplies and Clayton Mark and Company in 1900. In addition, Mark founded Marktown, a planned worker community in Northwest Indiana on the National Register of Historic Places. He was known for his philanthropy and civic contributions.

Fiscal sustainability, or public finance sustainability, is the ability of a government to sustain its current spending, tax and other policies in the long run without threatening government solvency or defaulting on some of its liabilities or promised expenditures. There is no consensus among economists on a precise operational definition for fiscal sustainability, rather different studies use their own, often similar, definitions. However, the European Commission defines public finance sustainability as: the ability of a government to sustain its current spending, tax and other policies in the long run without threatening the government's solvency or without defaulting on some of the government's liabilities or promised expenditures. Many countries and research institutes have published reports which assess the sustainability of fiscal policies based on long-run projections of country's public finances. These assessments attempt to determine whether an adjustment to current fiscal policies that is required to reconcile projected revenues with projected expenditures. The size of the required adjustment is given with measures such as the Fiscal gap. In empirical works, weak and strong fiscal sustainability are distinguished. Differences are related to both econometric techniques used for examination and variables involved.

Don Drummond, is a noted Canadian economist, having served extensively in the federal Department of Finance Canada, as Chief Economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank and as a scholar at Queen's University. He is known for his wide contributions to public policy in Canada and extensive citation on economic issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Rauner</span> Governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019

Bruce Vincent Rauner is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chairman of the Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pension Fund of the Russian Federation</span> Principal national pension fund of Russia

The Pension Fund of the Russian Federation (PFR) is the principal national pension fund in Russia. It is the largest organization of Russia to provide socially important public services to Russian citizens. Founded December 22, 1990 decision of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR No. 442-1 "On the organization of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation". The fund has branches across all Federal Subjects of Russia. The labor collective FIU - is more than 133 thousand social workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Fair Tax</span> Failed Illinois state constitution amendment

The Illinois Fair Tax was a proposed amendment to the Illinois state constitution that would have effectively changed the state income tax system from a flat tax to a graduated income tax. The proposal, formally titled the "Allow for Graduated Income Tax Amendment", appeared on the ballot in the November 3, 2020 election in Illinois as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment striking language from the Constitution of Illinois requiring a flat state income tax. Concurrent with the proposed constitutional amendment, the Illinois legislature passed legislation setting a new set of graduated income tax rates that would have taken effect had the amendment been approved by voters.

This article details the fourteen austerity packages passed by the Government of Greece between 2010 and 2017. These austerity measures were a result of the Greek government-debt crisis and other economic factors. All of the legislation listed remains in force.

Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is a non-departmental statutory body providing independent assessments and analysis of the Irish Government's fiscal stance, its economic and budgetary forecasts, and its compliance with fiscal rules. The Fiscal Council was created as part of a wider agenda of budgetary reform after the financial crisis.

The Illinois pension crisis refers to the rising gap between the pension benefits owed to eligible state employees and the amount of funding set aside by the state to make these future pension payments. As of 2020, the size of Illinois' pension obligation is $237B, but the state's pension funds have only $96B available for payouts to retirees.

References

  1. ↑ The Civic Federation, "About Us". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  2. ↑ David Paul Nord, "The Paradox of Municipal Reform in the Late Nineteenth Century." Wisconsin Magazine of History 66.2 (1982): 128-142.
  3. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Press Room". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  4. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Civic Federation Achievements". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  5. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Local Government Pensions". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  6. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Civic Federation Property Tax Primers". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  7. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Special Projects". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  8. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Blog". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  9. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Cost of the Crisis: An Analysis of the Additional Bond Costs Paid by the State of Illinois Due to the State’s Ongoing Fiscal Crisis". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  10. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Fiscal Rehabilitation Plan for the State of Illinois". Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  11. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Illinois Medicaid Program: An Issue Brief" Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  12. ↑ Gary Scott Smith, "When Stead Came to Chicago: The 'Social Gospel Novel' and the Chicago Civic Federation." American Presbyterians 68.3 (1990): 193-205. online
  13. ↑ Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2011). Marktown: Clayton Mark's Planned Worker Community in Northwest Indiana. South Shore Journal, 4. "South Shore Journal - Marktown: Clayton Mark's Planned Worker Community in Northwest Indiana". Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  14. ↑ Douglas Sutherland, "Fifty Years on the Civic Front"], The Civic Federation, 1943. Pp. 16-17.
  15. ↑ The Civic Federation, "Civic Federation History" Retrieved 2011-04-4.
  16. ↑ Civic Federation Records, DePaul University Special Collections and Archives. Accessed 21 February 2017.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.