ILLINOIS’ BOND RATING LOWERED

Illinois is now officially tied with California for the worst credit score in the nation, with the state’s bond rating lowered June 4 by Moody’s Investors Service.

In lowering Illinois’ bond rating one notch to A1, Moody’s pointed to the state’s inability to address its financial problems, including an unbalanced budget, billions in unpaid bills and faltering revenues. Moody’s said the failure to tackle Illinois’ fiscal issues “underscores a chronic lack of political will that indicates further erosion of an already weak financial position.”

With the new rating, Illinois has now tied California for the worst credit rating in the nation from Moody’s. It’s also anticipated that the other two major credit rating agencies will soon downgrade Illinois. A lower state credit rating usually translates into higher costs when the state tries to borrow money.

DEMOCRAT LEADERS IGNORE REPUBLICAN ALTERNATIVES

Although Democrat leaders have said lawmakers are likely to resume work on the state budget before the end of June, it remains uncertain when lawmakers will return to Springfield.

The Governor continues to push for additional borrowing to fund higher state spending, and neither he nor his party’s legislative leaders have shown any serious interest in Republican alternatives that could save the state money and eliminate the need for additional borrowing.

Republicans have been wrongly accused of not helping to identify solutions to the state’s budget problems, because the fact is Republicans have never refused any negotiation. When invited to the table, they’ve bargained in good faith even as others walked away.

SENATE ADJOURNS, BUT BUDGET NOT DONE

The Senate wrapped up a two-day trip back to Springfield May 27 by advancing budget bills, approving tax amnesty legislation and overriding an amendatory veto of McPier reform legislation, but did not consider a measure to borrow $4 billion that would be used to finance the state’s pension obligations.

The state budget—in House Bill 859 and Senate Bill 1215— has been advanced by the House of Representatives and will now be sent to Governor Pat Quinn.

The measures will increase state spending by $1 billion over the previous year, spending about $6 billion more than the state will take in. In addition, more than $6 billion in bills from the current fiscal year will be left unpaid.

No Senate Republicans supported the deficit budget.

Senator Bill Brady welcomes Heather Scranton of Decatur, a recent graduate of Richland Community College, to the Illinois Senate.

The daughter of Mark and Karen Scranton, Heather served as a legislative page for Senator Brady on May 27.