Illinois had its bond rating downgraded to one step above junk by Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, the lowest ranking on record for a U.S. state, as the long-running political stalemate over the budget shows no signs of ending.
S&P warned that Illinois will likely lose its investment-grade status, an unprecedented step for a state, around July 1 if leaders haven’t agreed on a budget that chips away at the government’s chronic deficits. Moody’s followed S&P’s downgrade Thursday, citing Illinois’s underfunded pensions and the record backlog of bills that are equivalent to about 40 percent of its operating budget.
Illinois may be the first state to declare bankruptcy. The only way way to lower the pension liabilities is to retroactively cut benefits already earned, which is prevented by state Constitution. I don't see a surge in revenues coming to save the day either. A state income tax hike will surely be coming, as if taxes here weren't high enough already.
Illinois is [expletive]. Literally the best chance we have to grow revenues is to legalize weed and that's not going to cut it.
Some suggest a transaction tax on the Chicago exchanges but I don't know. Those guys can set up their computers anywhere. Why stay here where it's cold and the taxes are already brutal?
What political party has been running Illinois for a long time?
Sorry, cheap shot.
Illinois had its bond rating downgraded to one step above junk by Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings, the lowest ranking on record for a U.S. state, as the long-running political stalemate over the budget shows no signs of ending.
S&P warned that Illinois will likely lose its investment-grade status, an unprecedented step for a state, around July 1 if leaders haven’t agreed on a budget that chips away at the government’s chronic deficits. Moody’s followed S&P’s downgrade Thursday, citing Illinois’s underfunded pensions and the record backlog of bills that are equivalent to about 40 percent of its operating budget.
Illinois may be the first state to declare bankruptcy. The only way way to lower the pension liabilities is to retroactively cut benefits already earned, which is prevented by state Constitution. I don't see a surge in revenues coming to save the day either. A state income tax hike will surely be coming, as if taxes here weren't high enough already.
Illinois is [expletive]. Literally the best chance we have to grow revenues is to legalize weed and that's not going to cut it.
Some suggest a transaction tax on the Chicago exchanges but I don't know. Those guys can set up their computers anywhere. Why stay here where it's cold and the taxes are already brutal?
What political party has been running Illinois for a long time?
Sorry, cheap shot.
Not a cheap shot. The IL democratic machine needs to be thrown out of office wholesale.
IMADreamer wrote:Seriously this mess knows no party lines. Illinois has been mismanaged from many sides for a long time and I don't know the way out.
It's the most Democratic state in the country. Democrats have controlled the governor's office and both houses of legislature since 2003, and they've voted for a Democrat president for decades.
IMADreamer wrote:Seriously this mess knows no party lines. Illinois has been mismanaged from many sides for a long time and I don't know the way out.
It's the most Democratic state in the country. Democrats have controlled the governor's office and both houses of legislature since 2003, and they've voted for a Democrat president for decades.
Won't even be able to play Powerball and Mega Millions. First they come for my guns, now they come for my scratch-off tickets. When will it end!
The association that runs the popular Powerball lottery and Mega Millions games will drop Illinois at the end of June without a budget agreement, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Concern over the state of Illinois' fiscal condition prompted that decision by the Multi-State Lottery Association, according to internal Illinois Lottery communications.
Ok not quite. But at long last the state of Illinois has a budget. And all it took was Democrats and Republicans coming together to override the veto of a billionaire who bought the governor's office for no other reason than to bust up unions. A man who cited Kentucky as an economic model to which the state of Illinois should aspire.
Ok not quite. But at long last the state of Illinois has a budget. And all it took was Democrats and Republicans coming together to override the veto of a billionaire who bought the governor's office for no other reason than to bust up unions. A man who cited Kentucky as an economic model to which the state of Illinois should aspire.
Democrats and Republicans came together to plunder its citizens.