Benjamin Salzberg, Republican Dist. 29 candidate for state Senate, said recently that the state is at a pivotal point as it heads into a second fiscal year without a budget.
The state has been operating without a budget since last July, and its credit rating just plunged even lower. This has resulted in the state having the lowest credit rating in the U.S.
“To me, this is very upsetting that we were downgraded again two notches above junk status, which will, of course, make it in turn more expensive to borrow, run businesses. Schools are on the brink of closure; jobs will be lost because companies will start to think about leaving the state,” Salzberg said. “Thinking about all of that, we are really at that pivotal point of no return, and we need people in the Senate like myself who know how to problem-solve.”
Recently, Moody’s Investors Service issued another bond downgrade, dropping Illinois’ bond rating, thanks to $26 billion in debt, from Baa1 to Baa2. Illinois is now faced with resolving what is seemingly an insurmountable debt. Construction bonds and bonds that support the expansion of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority were downgraded to Baa2 as well, making matters worse
Backlogged bills likely will exceed a record $10 billion.
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