Illinois Budget Director to Speak in Arlington Heights

On Thursday July 19 Bobby Otter, the Budget Director for the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, will be in Arlington Heights to speak about the Illinois budget and the state's debt problem. The program will run from 7-9 p.m. at the Arlington Heights Village Hall, located at 33 S. Arlington Heights Road.

The League of Women Voters Arlington Heights-Mount Prospect-Buffalo Grove Area including Wheeling-Prospect Heights-Elk Grove Village is hosting the event as part of their speaker series. The event is free and open to the public.

Otter is the Budget Director for the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (CTBA). In this role, Otter's areas of expertise include state and local budgets, tax policy, and fiscal analysis, with a concentration in education policy and funding research.

CTBA is dedicated to taking on large, systemic challenges by taking a data-driven, evidence-based, and best practice approach to:

•Promoting sustainable, long-term policy reforms in the core areas of education, social services, healthcare, and workforce/economic development;

•Tying the fiscal side of the ledger to service delivery-after all, to have quality services that meet demographically driven needs and generate desired outcomes, sufficient capacity on the front end is essential; and

•Framing all reforms in ways that bridge rather than reinforce ideological divides.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.