Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is authorizing a major borrowing plan to pay down part of the state’s nearly $15 billion dollar backlog of bills.
Lawmakers approved a state budget over Rauner’s veto earlier this summer, which called for borrowing $6 billion dollars.
Rauner waited about two months to authorize that borrowing, which racked up even more late fees for all the unpaid bills.
Rauner said in an interview that the budget is still not balanced, but he wants to bring discipline to the state’s finances.
“I’ll be working with the General Assembly to get the budget truly balanced for the first time in decades,” he said. I’ll never give up on that.”
Rauner says he’s proposing $500 million dollars in cuts, but those would still need lawmakers’ approval.