Moody's Institute has issued another threat to Illinois government about it's budget crisis and a local lawmaker is repeating comments made from earlier this week. 

 

The statement from Moody's also indicated that the state still risks a downgrade in its credit rating to junk status unless other reforms are put in place and a true balanced budget is achieved. Rose is the Senate Republican's appointed budget negotiator.

 

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) issued the following statement in response to Moody's Investors Service announcement July 5 confirming that billions of dollars will remain in unpaid bills under the House budget plan even after a 32% income tax increase is enacted as part of the plan. 

 

The Senator said quote - "It should now be crystal clear that a tax increase alone won't solve our state's fiscal problems. Moody's highlights two major issues left unresolved by Speaker Madigan's House budget plan: it doesn't really help pay down much of the $15 billion in unpaid bills and it doesn't address Illinois' mountain of pension liability. After voting 'no' to the House plan, I warned that this so-called budget doesn't address the backlog of unpaid bills and while it may be a budget for a fiscal year, it is not the earth-shaking reform necessary to put Illinois on a fiscally responsible trajectory to prosperity. 

 

“Moody's statement confirms this assessment. Bottom line, we need a real budget and the only way to get there is real reform. I know that behind closed doors that the two parties were very close to a breakthrough plan that would finally bring this mess to an end. I would urge the House to immediately reopen the discussions on the cuts and reforms necessary to get a real budget that actually begins to address the billions in unpaid bills."

 

The Illinois House is set to convene today to override Governor Bruce Rauner's veto of the budget packages that includes what Democrats call a balanced budget with cuts and tax hikes to the income tax in the state.