A new report analyzing Illinois' finances has some good news and some bad news. The Chicago-based Civic Federation's report breaks down the latest Illinois budget - which was approved earlier this year.The Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall says the backlog of the state's bills is going down. However, he points out Illinois still owes more than $7 billion. Msall says that is not a good number for anybody who’s owed payment by the state of Illinois. While Msall offers praise to legislators for making Medicaid cuts, he criticizes them for not dealing with the pension debt. Legislative leaders say they won’t deal with the pensions issue before the November election.
READ THE REPORT HERE
Illinois Public Radio's Tony Arnold contributed to this report