Thursday, March 24, 2022
The following statement can be attributed in full to Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza:
“I’d like to join business and civic groups around Illinois praising the General Assembly and Governor Pritzker for a great step in the right direction to responsibly pay down $4 billion of Illinois’ bills with the passage of SB 2803 today.
- The bill spares Illinois businesses an onerous tax hike by devoting a larger-than-expected $2.7 billion in federal ARPA funds – more than our neighboring states – toward paying off Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund advances.
- It allocates $900 million to address legacy debt for state employee health insurance – money that previous administrations have kicked the can on from one budget to the next.
- It provides $300 million extra to the state’s pension funds, which will reduce the pension shortfall by $1 billion between now and 2045.
- And there’s $230 million to pay off the College Illinois tuition program, saving taxpayers $75 million.
This is the kind of responsible budgeting that will keep those first-in-20-years credit upgrades coming for Illinois.
I will continue to work with Illinois’ congressional delegation on their effort to extend the interest waiver on the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, saving state taxpayers an estimated $70 million or more in interest.”
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