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NWSOFA Fiscal and Economic Issue Team December Meeting
December 11, 2017 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Our next Fiscal and Economic Issues meeting will be December 11th at 7 pm at the Northwest Suburban Democrats Office at 1310 West Northwest Highway in Arlington Heights.
Come join us to increase your understanding of recent economic and budgetary news:
- Fiscal year 2017 ended September 30th with a deficit of $666 billion.
- $80 billion higher than FY 2016
- $100 billion higher than January 2017 CBO estimate before Trump took office
- Job growth rebounded in October (+261,000) after slumping in September (+18,000) due to the hurricanes
- 3rd quarter real GDP growth initial estimate was 3.0%
- may have been positively impacted by vehicle orders to replace cars damaged in the hurricanes
- Current continuing resolution for federal spending expires December 8th
We will also be looking at current federal budget proposals:
- Republican tax cut proposals
- Impact on different income groups
- Impact on deficits and the debt
- Appropriations bills (or another continuing resolution) needed by December 8th, although this is flying under the news radar currently
David Doney will be updating his analysis of what is in the then current tax proposal/bill/law, depending on where it is in the process at that time.
The U.S. has added about 2.0 million jobs nationally in the last 12 months (through October 2017). In October the (U-3) unemployment rate was at 4.1%, while the U-6 rate was 7.9%. The U-6 rate is down from a high of 17.1% during the downturn and is below the 8.4% rate in the fall of 2007 before the Great Recession of December 2007 to June 2009.
NWSOFA took action in November, joining a protest of the House tax cut bill at a Representative Roskam event. I suspect there will be other opportunities for action on tax cuts as the legislation works its way through the Senate and then negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate bills. Plus action on appropriations in December. Let us know if you hear of any events that we should participate in.
Finally we will take a look at job growth in Illinois, which continues to lag the U.S. economy. Illinois has a budget for fiscal year 2018, which began July 1st. The jobs report for Illinois shows job gains for 2017 through October of 19,100. For the 12 months ending October 2017 Illinois reported job growth of 17,800.
Also, since we are meeting in the NW Dems office we can partake of alcohol during the meeting. We will have some beers and pretzels, but feel free to bring anything you want to drink or eat.
Also, since we are meeting in the Dems office we can partake of alcohol during the meeting. We will have some beers and pretzels, but feel free to bring anything you want to drink or eat.
See you in Arlington Heights.