Last week, beleaguered Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger admitted that, thanks to the bitter budget battle going on in Springfield, the state would miss a $560 million pension payment in November.
The news came as no surprise to those who have followed the story.
A state Supreme Court decision in May effectively ruled out pension reform (it’s the whole “implicit contract” argument) prompting Moody’s to cut Chicago to junk and thrusting the state’s financial crisis into the national spotlight.
As we noted when the news hit, despite hiring an “all star” budget guru (for $30,000 a month no less), governor Bruce Rauner has been unable to pass a budget in a timely fashion leading directly to all types of absurdities including everything from the possibility of shortened school years to lottery winners being paid in IOUs.
Now, Fitch has cut the state’s GO rating citing the budget impasse. The move affects some $27 billion in debt.
Still no word on when lottery winners can trade in their Rauner bucks for real cash.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on 10/19/2015.
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