Illinois
Illinois reports paying its bills on time and in full
The Illinois state comptroller reported a 55% year-over-year increase in the end-of-year general revenue fund cash balance as her office paid the state’s bills in a timely manner, a departure from recent years when the state’s unpaid bill backlogs topped $10 billion.
Illinois ended the fiscal year with a $1.7 billion balance in the general revenue fund, up from last year’s $1.1 billion, said State Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
That stands in stark contrast to roughly a decade ago, when a
Illinois State Comptroller’s office
When Mendoza took office in late 2016, she inherited a
By last year, the
The rainy-day fund is now projected to reach $2.3 billion by June 2025, according to Mendoza’s office.
“It’s dramatic, and it’s been a priority of the administration, the General Assembly and our office to build that up,” said Abdon Pallasch, spokesperson for the comptroller. “It’s something that the rating agencies have mentioned when they’re evaluating Illinois bonds, they’d like to see a better rainy day fund. And they’ve been noting the progress.”
Moody’s Ratings in April revised the state’s outlook to positive from stable and assigned a rating of A3 to the state’s new GOs. S&P Global Ratings assigns an A-minus long-term rating to the state’s GO bonds, a BBB-plus rating on its appropriation-backed debt and a BBB-minus on the state’s moral obligation debt; the outlook is stable.
Fitch Ratings assigns an A-minus long-term rating with a stable outlook to the state’s general obligation unlimited tax debt and GO bonds. Kroll Bond Rating Agency rates the state’s Build Illinois Bonds AA-plus with a stable outlook.
The state is
“The state’s progress in improving its structural budget alignment, paying down liabilities and building its budgetary reserves all place it on a positive credit trajectory, but the stable rating outlook continues to reflect our view that there remain meaningful upside constraints that keep it separate from more highly rated states,” S&P director Scott Nees said in an April statement.
The state pension systems remain underfunded, and a proposed change by Pritzker’s administration to raise funding levels from the current statute’s requirement of 90% to the actuarially-recommended 100%
Mendoza has pushed to make extra payments into the state pension systems and the rainy-day fund. She now says she plans to take advantage of a new law permitting the comptroller’s office to pre-pay the required monthly pension payments.
The provision, proposed by Mendoza, was included in the budget implementation bill passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Pritzker last month. Previously, the law did not permit additional payments to the pension systems beyond the set monthly payments required by statute. The comptroller is now able to make additional payments.
“This will enable the [retirement] systems to plan accordingly and keep more of the pension funds in their investment portfolios,” Mendoza said in a statement.
“With the pensions, every little bit helps, and when they’re not having to wait until the last minute, that means they don’t have to disrupt the investments they have going that get good returns,” said Pallasch. “It gives them the ability to plan… This helps combat the pension shortfall, so even less repair is needed going forward.”
Mendoza “would like to see even more,” Pallasch said. She’s proposed a bill that would trigger a 1% automatic monthly transfer into the state’s budget stabilization fund and pension stabilization fund when Illinois’ revenue growth is 4% or greater and the state’s bill backlog is under $3 billion.
The last version of that legislation,
Mendoza noted in a statement that the state generated 53% more in interest income than last fiscal year by keeping a healthy cash balance throughout 2024. It’s a far cry from the days when the state government
Illinois
Advocates, opponents seek to sway Gov. JB Pritzker on medical aid in dying legislation passed by Illinois General Assembly
Illinois could soon join a growing list of states where terminally ill patients would be allowed to take life-ending medication prescribed by a doctor.
The Illinois Senate narrowly approved the “medical aid in dying” legislation in October, after the Illinois House passed it in May, and the legislation is now sitting on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.
Pritzker has not said if he’ll sign it, and the controversial legislation has people on both sides trying to bend the governor’s ear.
Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is legal in 12 states, with eight others considering similar legislation.
If Pritzker allows the “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act” passed by the Illinois General Assembly to become law, Illinois could be the first state in the Midwest to allow medical aid in dying.
Suzy Flack, whose son Andrew died of cancer, is among the advocates urging the governor to sign the bill.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017 in his home state of Illinois, three years later Andrew moved to California, where medical aid in dying is legal, and chose to end his life in 2022.
“He died on his own terms, peacefully. We were all there to see it and embrace him at that moment, and it was really a beautiful thing,” Suzy said. “His last words were, ‘I’m happy. Please sign this. Allow people in Illinois this option.’”
Illinois is on the brink of joining a growing number of states that allow doctors to prescribe a mixture of lethal medication for terminally ill patients.
Outside the governor’s Chicago office on Thursday, many disability advocates, religious leaders, lawmakers, and doctors have called on Pritzker to veto the bill that would legalize what they call state-sanctioned suicide
“The question becomes where do you draw the line in the medical ethics dilemmas?” one physician who identified himself as Dr. Pete said. “We don’t need to go to this crossing of a red line of actually providing a means to directly end life.”
Republican Illinois state Sen. Chris Balkema said he “would really appreciate it if the governor would veto this bill.”
“My plea is that we veto this; come back with language that is constructive on both sides,” he said.
Pritzker has he is reviewing the legislation and is listening to advocates on both sides before deciding whether to sign it.
“It’s a hard issue, and I don’t want anybody to think making up your mind about this is very easy. It’s not. There’s a lot to consider, but most of all it’s about compassion,” he said. “There’s evidence and information on both sides that leads me to think seriously about what direction to go.”
The Illinois legislation would require two doctors to determine that a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided to terminally ill patients would need to be requested both orally and in written form, and would have to be self-administered.
The bill was sent to Pritzker on Nov. 25, and he has 60 days from then to either sign it, amend it and send it back to lawmakers, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.
Snow is making a comeback in Central Illinois.
IPM meteorologist Andrew Pritchard said A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Champaign County and surrounding portions of east-central Illinois beginning Thursday at 3:00 p.m. to Friday at 6:00 a.m.
Snow will spread into Champaign-Urbana between 3-6 PM late this afternoon into the evening with periods of moderate to heavy snowfall continuing overnight. Snow should taper off around sunrise on Friday morning, with around 2-4″ of new snow accumulation expected across Champaign County.
Winds will blow out of the east around 5-10 mph, with minimal impacts from blowing & drifting snow. Still, snow accumulation on roadways could lead to hazardous travel conditions overnight into the Friday morning commute.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service in Central Illinois forecasted for snow to return on Saturday afternoon. The chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible. Temperatures will drop below zero across much of central Illinois both Saturday night and Sunday night with resulting wind chill values as cold as 15 to 30 below zero.
RIVERWOODS, Ill. (WLS) — A woman is facing charges five years after the discovery of a dead newborn in the north suburbs.
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Riverwoods, Illinois police say Natalie Schram gave birth to the baby in May 2020 and then dumped the baby’s body in a wooded area in the 1800 block of Robinwood Lane.
Schram was arrested earlier this month in Washington State and has now bee charged in connection to the crime, police said.
SEE ALSO | 2 charged after infant’s remains found buried at Wilmington home, Will County sheriff says
The suspect is expected to appear in a Lake County, Illinois courtroom on Thursday.
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