Year in Review - Comptroller Susana Mendoza announces the Top 10 Accomplishments of 2023
Continued fiscal responsibility, credit rating upgrades and support for law enforcement top this year’s list.
“In 2023, we’ve really seen our hard work in building up the state’s reserves, paying bills on time and protecting prevailing wage workers come to fruition,” says Comptroller Susana Mendoza. “All indications point to Illinois as a premier destination to live, work and run a business.”
Counting down the top 10 accomplishments of the Illinois Office of Comptroller:
#10 I proudly paid off the last of the state’s COVID-19 unemployment insurance loans. Not only was the $4.5 billion federal loan paid in full, our office saved taxpayers $20 million by paying it back earlier than required.
#9 Thrilled that my bipartisan bill securing regular payments into the state’s Rainy Day Fund and Pension Stabilization Fund when the state can afford it sailed through the House State Government Administration Committee with unanimous support. We look forward to working with lawmakers to get this done next year to ensure fiscal responsibility and stability!
#8 We are paying the state’s bills faster than the private sector. The oldest General Revenue Funds bills in my office have been there less than 14 days. At the height of the budget impasse, state vendors were waiting 180 days. We want vendors feeling confident about going into business with the state. Our website details this progress with daily updates.
#7 We forced a company that had been cheating its workers out of their rightful salaries under Illinois’ Prevailing Wage Act to pay them $73,000 in back wages, then un-froze $870,000 in state payments to the company.
#6 We deposited $200 million above the required minimum into the state’s Pension Stabilization Fund. Strengthening fiscal foundations for a more secure future!
#5 We paid down the accounts payable, which are bills owed to state vendors, to under $1 billion for the 1st time in 15 years. A landmark achievement not seen in 15 years!
#4 We ended the fiscal year with more than $1 billion in the state’s General Revenue Fund for the first time in more than two decades.
And our TOP THREE ACCOMPLISHMENTS of 2023:
#3 Our Act-of-Duty Bill to cover police officers severely injured by COVID-19 in the days before vaccines was passed unanimously by lawmakers and signed into law by Governor Pritzker in May. The law stops police boards from telling police officers – like my brother, Chicago Police Det. Sgt. Joaquin Mendoza – that they are worth more dead than alive.
#2 Illinois’ Rainy Day Fund has more than $2 billion - for the first time ever! Just like families need an emergency savings account, the state must continue to build its reserves in case of financial crisis. Whichever state program or service you value, this fund ensures it will continue.
#1 Illinois received its 7th, 8th and 9th credit upgrades, which means lower costs for infrastructure projects! With improved credit ratings, the state can borrow money at a lesser interest rate, ultimately saving taxpayers money.
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