Rockford Sun

Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) has highlighted the key points in the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget’s (GOMB) annual Economic and Fiscal Policy Report, outlining the long-term economic and fiscal policy objectives of the state.

In a Facebook post Dec. 28, Keicher said the fiscal year 2022 budget will pay off the remaining Municipal Liquidity Facility  (MLF) debt, interfund borrowing liabilities, request another $150 million supplemental appropriation for undefined reasons and propose an additional $300 million set aside for a Budget Stabilization Fund contribution.

“Shell games with dollars isn’t a good footing for Illinois … November’s report takes into account the $1.714 billion UPWARD revenue revision GOMB used in the recently released Economic and Fiscal Policy Report – The end result here means that the FY22 budget is ‘balanced,’” Keicher wrote in his post.

According to the post, the GOMB has begun distributing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and has triggered a provision in statute that requires them to report transfers between certain funds in excess of 4%. 

At the same time, Keicher said the governor has used between $2 and $3 billion in ARPA funds without the authority to do so through the Essential Government Services Fund created in fiscal year 2022. This fund allows the administration to use ARPA funds to offset General Revenue Fund (GRF) expenditures and allows these to be used on debt service and paying back interfund borrowing, Keicher said. 

This comes as the GOMB issues a report to the General Assembly every year, detailing the economic intentions for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as the following four fiscal years. According to Statista, Illinois’ total debt was approximately $63.3 billion as of 2020.  The president and CEO of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association Rob Karr told Illinois Policy the state’s unemployment fund deficit could grow up to $8 billion.