Truth In Accounting
Recent News About Truth In Accounting
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Move by labor department may mean Illinois and other states never know full scale of pandemic unemployment fraud
Nearly a year after Illinois lawmakers requested an audit by the Illinois Department of Employment Security of fraudulent unemployment claims and a tabulation of losses during the pandemic, nothing has come forth. -
Illinois' financial condition worsens despite receiving billions in federal aid
A new report from watchdog Truth in Accounting shows each taxpayer’s share of state debt has nearly doubled since 2009 to $57,000 as total debt increased by $10 billion—mostly due to pension obligations. -
Bill would match Illinois spending to what taxpayers can afford
A bipartisan ‘spending cap’ bill would allow predictable, sustainable growth in state spending without tax hikes. Illinois is one of the few states without a similar fiscal restraint. -
Why Congress should reject Illinois’ $44 billion bailout request
Two decades of fiscal mismanagement have left state finances ill-prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress should condition any additional aid for troubled states on taxpayer protections that ensure pensions are solvent, accounting is realistic and budgets are balanced. -
Doubling Illinois' gas tax, other tax hikes will go to fund more than $1.4 billion of waste and pork
Lawmakers sold 21 new taxes and fees as necessary to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and balance the budget. Instead, taxpayers will be funding dog parks, swimming pools, snowmobile paths, a vacant theater and pickleball courts. -
Get your act together, Springfield
As the scheduled end of the spring legislative session nears, Illinois government is without its most important tool to manage the taxpayers’ money and provide the services needed for our most vulnerable citizens: the budget. -
Illinois' pensions debt grew more in one year than half of states' entire budgets
In one year, Illinois' pensions added more debt than 25 U.S. states' entire budgets. -
TUA: Retired state leaders living high off the hog at taxpayers expense
The $147,477-plus former Governor James Thompson receives in annual state pension payments shines a light on a pension system that's essentially bankrupt, eroding the middle class, and creating classes of retired ¨have's¨ and ¨have-nots,¨ according to Taxpayers Union of America's latest study. -
Truth in Accounting report says state is hiding huge debt from taxpayers
CHICAGO – With an Illinois budget stalemate about to enter a second year, a new report from Chicago-based Truth in Accounting (TIA) condemns state accounting practices for disguising from taxpayers the "huge" deficit they face. -
No exit strategy from Illinois budget standoff
Taxpayers must be vigilant in holding members of the Illinois General Assembly accountable, especially at this unprecedented time without a state budget and as we approach the new fiscal year. Now is the time that legislators could propose the most dangerous solutions to the state’s financial crises, including hiking the state income tax or imposing a new, devastating income tax on retirement benefits.