The state is on the wrong side of a $4.5 billion hole in the unemployment trust fund. The massive debt came from historic unemployment after COVID 19 shutdowns. Last week, the Governor signed a bill only supported by Democrats that uses $2.7 billion in federal COVID relief dollars to pay off a chunk of the debt. Governor JB Pritzker says the lack of Republican support is a further indication that they have little interest in working on fixing real issues at the statehouse.

Republicans wanted remaining unspent COVID funds dedicated to balance – paying it all off and avoiding interest charges on the debt. In the bill, Democrats also approved paying off the College Illinois fund balance, sending an extra $300 million to the state’s pension fund and using $900 million to pay down longstanding debt from employee health care bills.