Far West
Pursuit Driver
So, it sounds like it is mostly a pension problem...
The state currently faces $130 billion in unfunded pension obligations and a backlog of unpaid bills worth $15 billion. A downgrade to “junk” status would increase the cost of borrowing for critical infrastructure, or refinancing existing debt.
“Gov. Rauner inherited this financial mess when he took office, and his proposals have been met by resentment from the speaker,” Deputy House Republican Leader Dan Brady said.
Rauner claims that the Republican plan for a budget could fix the state’s financial situation and called it a “true compromise.”
The plan incorporates reforms like property tax relief, term limits and spending caps, which have caused an “ongoing confrontation” between him and Illinois’ Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, one Republican leader told Fox News, adding that the two have been in a “stalemate” since Rauner took office two years ago.
Brady added, “we are asking that the speaker allow for a date and a vote before June 30.”
When asked whether the legislature would be able to pass a budget package by the June 30 deadline, and about the likelihood of the change in rating, Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown did not speculate.
“I don’t do predictions—there are numerous discussions around the State House on an effort to bring a balanced budget and see where there might be support for that,” Brown told Fox News. “I’m not in finance.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/26/illinois-in-danger-entering-financial-death-spiral.html
The state currently faces $130 billion in unfunded pension obligations and a backlog of unpaid bills worth $15 billion. A downgrade to “junk” status would increase the cost of borrowing for critical infrastructure, or refinancing existing debt.
“Gov. Rauner inherited this financial mess when he took office, and his proposals have been met by resentment from the speaker,” Deputy House Republican Leader Dan Brady said.
Rauner claims that the Republican plan for a budget could fix the state’s financial situation and called it a “true compromise.”
The plan incorporates reforms like property tax relief, term limits and spending caps, which have caused an “ongoing confrontation” between him and Illinois’ Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, one Republican leader told Fox News, adding that the two have been in a “stalemate” since Rauner took office two years ago.
Brady added, “we are asking that the speaker allow for a date and a vote before June 30.”
When asked whether the legislature would be able to pass a budget package by the June 30 deadline, and about the likelihood of the change in rating, Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown did not speculate.
“I don’t do predictions—there are numerous discussions around the State House on an effort to bring a balanced budget and see where there might be support for that,” Brown told Fox News. “I’m not in finance.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/26/illinois-in-danger-entering-financial-death-spiral.html