The Illinois Attorney General's Office took in a record $1.3 billion in 2014 for the state, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said on Wednesday.
The funds were generated through a combination of collection efforts and litigation, and Madigan said that about $43 was brought in for every dollar appropriated to the office in 2014. Madigan has taken in a total in excess of $11 billion since she took office.
"My office works to maximize revenue to support critical programs and services, and last year, we generated a record-breaking total while operating with the lowest level of taxpayer funding in over a decade," Madigan said. "Given the state's fiscal crisis, we're doing everything we can to generate much-needed funds for the state."
Madigan's office received about $30.8 million in appropriations for 2014, which she said is lower than the level of funding the office received in 1997. About $344.8 million of the funds collected last year came through collections litigation for child support, damage to state property, fines and penalties, and unpaid educational loans.
An additional $317.6 million came in through estate tax revenues and about $306.8 million from tobacco litigation, Madigan said. About $244 million was returned to the state's pension systems last year to cover investment losses in mortgage-backed securities that contributed to the economic collapse in 2008.
About $120 million was secured through settlement agreements, and about $100 million was generated through unpaid gasoline sales taxes.