llinois Comptroller Leslie Munger said Speaker Madigan's budget proposal would increase the state's unpaid bills to $15 billion and cause eight to nine month payment delays for vendors.
Illinois House Democrats failed to muster the 71 votes needed to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of HB 580, which would have allowed government-worker unions to remove the governor from labor contract negotiations and replace him with a panel of unelected arbitrators.
Illinois government-worker unions demand pay that outstrips that of Illinois private-sector workers and propose numerous tax hikes to fund their contract demands.
The Illinois auditor general found the Illinois Lottery in violation of a state finance law for paying $20 million to ensure that, even in the absence of a state budget, Illinois could continue to participate in the Mega Millions and Powerball games.
A new report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security shows Illinois gained 5,400 jobs in April, but the state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 6.6 percent, tied for highest in the U.S.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.