After months of pressure, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced Thursday that hell sell $6 billion in bonds to help pay off Illinois staggering bill backlog a debt that dragged the state down with interest penalties reaching $2 million a day.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza has been pushing for the bond sales for more than a month, as has state Treasurer Michael Frerichs, both Democrats. The states bill backlog remained at $15.1 billion as of Thursday, according to the comptrollers ledger.
Per the budget agreement reached in July, Rauner was authorized to offer up to $6 billion in general obligation bonds, which would allow the state to lower the interest rate it pays on its debt. The rate up to 12 percent a year was costing Illinois taxp…
Read the full article at: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/gov-rauner-refinancing-debt-to-help-pay-staggering-backlog/
