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
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Gophers will be without starting left guard Tyler Cooper against No. 24 Illinois at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Cooper had started all eight games this season, but played only 37 snaps in the 48-23 home win over Maryland last Saturday.
Tony Nelson, who stepped in against the Terrapins, is a likely candidate to start at left guard against the Illini. The redshirt sophomore has played sparingly across six games, but had a season-high 23 snaps last weekend.
Receiver Cristian Driver, who missed the Maryland game, was not listed on the unavailable list, indicating he is available to play Saturday. He has six receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown this season.
The Gophers will also be without its third cornerback Zaquon Bryan, safety Darius Green and two tight ends Pierce Walsh and Nathan Jones.
Defensive end Jah Joyner and safety Aidan Gousby, who left during the last drive of the Maryland game, were not listed on the U’s report two hours before kickoff against Illinois.
Originally Published:
Illinois
2024 Illinois Report Card for schools reveals graduation numbers, proficiency rates and more
The Illinois State Board of Education recently released its 2024 report card for Illinois schools, showing the performance of districts and schools over the past year across the state.
The annual report card, which was published on Wednesday, evaluates schools across the state and “provides a snapshot of academic achievement; student and teacher information; and financial data at the state, district, and school levels.”
The 2023-24 report card showed notable growth in multiple areas, with proficiency rates in English/Language Arts, Math and Science all increasing year-over-year, though Math proficiency rates remain low.
Additionally, the percentage of students that “met or exceeded” expectations in ELA and Math increased since the 2022-23 report card.
Four-year high school graduation rates remained steady statewide, with a small increase to 87.7%, up from 87.6% in 2023.
The 2024 report also showed a notable decrease in chronic absenteeism, which was cited as one of the state’s most glaring issues in the 2023 report card.
The rate dropped form 28.3% to 26.3% in the 2024 report, well down from the recent high of 29.8% in 2022, but significantly above the rate of 16.8% in 2018, two school years prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as a student who missed 10% or more of the school year, roughly 17 or more days, due to excused or unexcused absences.
Chronic truancy remained steady, increasing to 20% from 19.9% in 2023, remaining below a high of 22.8% recorded in 2021.
Despite a jump of nearly 3% from the 2022 to 2023 reports in teacher retention, the 2024 report showed some regression in that regard, with retention dropping from 90.2% in 2023 to 89.6% in 2024.
Within the past eight years, teacher retention dropped as low as 85.2% in the 2018 state report card.
More information on the 2023-24 report card, along with each school’s individual result, can be found here.
Illinois state senator apologizes for social media post that prompted calls for her resignation
State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz is in hot water for social media posts considered to be Islamophobic.
CHICAGO – An Illinois state senator is in hot water for social media posts that faith groups have called Islamophobic.
State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz replied to a post on X last week that referred to Westerners who praised Islam as “bootlickers” and suggested “They move to an Islamic country and stick their heads in the dirt multiple times a day for enlightenment.”
Feigenholtz replied “You are a [bad***] truth teller” to the post.
Several faith groups, including the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on Feigenholtz to resign as state senator.
“When the intent is clear and the track record is clear, again, our intelligence shall not be insulted. I think the only way forward, if she is truly sorry as a matter of fact, is to step down as a statement of her being sorry and to work on whatever issues she might have because she has lost confidence as far as constituents and as far as communities are concerned,” said Ahmad Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago.
CAIR also criticized an Oct. 13 post on Feigenholtz’s personal Facebook page that quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
“We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us,” the post said.
Feigenholtz issued an apology in a statement Friday:
“I made a mistake and, as a result, I shared a message I do not believe in. It was never my intention to reply to – let alone amplify that individual’s inflammatory remarks. Everyone deserves to feel heard and respected, especially by their elected leaders. I apologize for the pain my action has caused, and I will work with my staff and colleagues to ensure this does not happen again.”
The Jewish Council of Urban Affairs also condemned Feigenholtz’s post:
“JCUA is troubled to learn of a deeply offensive social media post by Illinois State Senator Sara Feigenholtz. In a since-deleted tweet, Sen. Feigenholtz amplified blatantly Islamophobic, bigoted rhetoric that denigrates and dehumanizes Muslims. This hateful speech has no place in our public discourse — let alone shared by our elected officials.”
Feigenholtz had been critical of the anti-semitic posts of the since-resigned Chicago Public Schools Board Chair Rev. Mitchell Johnson.
Feigenholtz has removed social media posts considered Islamophobic. She has not indicated that she would be stepping down.
Boat with 7 people onboard catches fire near Queen Mary in Long Beach
Detroit Tigers Get To Avoid One Part of Free Agency This Offseason
San Francisco community gathers to celebrate Day of the Dead
Dallas-based TGI Fridays files for bankruptcy protection as sit-down struggles for future
Miami football team attends funeral of Mark Fletcher Jr.’s father
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Video: Our Photographers’ Favorite Campaign Trail Photos
Early in-person voting ending Saturday in North Carolina, New Mexico, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
Brussels, my love? Instability in Georgia overshadows EU enlargement
Who is Liz Cheney? Trump fantasises her being shot during chat with Tucker Carlson
Opponents of antisemitism on campus frustrated by Schumer's failure to move on legislation: 'Stunning'
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoAlien Country (2024) – Movie Review
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431700/STK201_SAM_ALTMAN_CVIRGINIA_A.jpg "OpenAI plans to release its next big AI model by December")
Technology1 week agoOpenAI plans to release its next big AI model by December
-
Health1 week agoNew cervical cancer treatment approach could reduce risk of death by 40%, trial results show
-
Culture1 week agoTop 45 MLB free agents for 2024-25 with contract predictions, team fits: Will Soto get $600M+?
-
Sports1 week agoFreddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam gives Dodgers Game 1 World Series win vs. Yankees
-
News6 days agoSikh separatist, targeted once for assassination, says India still trying to kill him
-
Culture6 days agoFreddie Freeman wallops his way into World Series history with walk-off slam that’ll float forever
-
Technology6 days agoWhen a Facebook friend request turns into a hacker’s trap