Decades of institutionalized financial mismanagement left Illinois with the nation’s worst fiscal health. Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has been at the center of nearly every bad decision along the way.

Illinois' credit rating is just one notch above junk, the lowest of any U.S. state.

City leaders must prioritize critical spending – and avoid hiking taxes on a struggling economy.

Two decades of fiscal mismanagement have left state finances ill-prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress should condition any additional aid for troubled states on taxpayer protections that ensure pensions are solvent, accounting is realistic and budgets are balanced.

Illinois’ financial outlook was changed from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ by two major ratings firms, raising the risk the state’s credit rating will formally fall to non-investment grade status.

Due to its poor financial health and lagging economy, Illinois carries unique economic and fiscal risks from a prolonged market downturn or recession. The state must act now to mitigate harm from COVID-19.

The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...

The state sold the helicopter in 2015 to ease budgetary pressures.