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IPFS News Link • Economy - Economics USA

Illinois Owes Money, But No One Knows How Much

• USA News

There are estimates of how much Illinois owes, but the bills are not tracked by any one person.

Illinois owes a lot. But how much? And who does it owe this money to? It turns out that no one knows. According the Bloomberg, even the CFO of the state government doesn't know how much they owe. By the time he gets reports on public debt from state agencies, the figures are outdated.

Bloomberg reports, "Even Illinois's CFO Doesn't Know How Many Bills Are Unpaid."

Under current law, state agencies only have to report to the comptroller once a year — on Oct. 1 — the amount of unpaid bills they had by the end of June, making the information already outdated by the time it's submitted. […]

To get a better picture of how deeply Illinois is in debt, Mendoza is urging lawmakers to override Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's veto of a measure that will require state agencies to report bills on a monthly basis and include how old the bills are, whether funds have been appropriated to pay those bills and how much interest is owed. The Illinois House of Representatives voted to override the veto on Wednesday. The Senate must do the same for the bill to become law.


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