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In
October, Illinois sold $6 billion of general obligation bonds to
help pay off the backlog.
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza said her office would
prioritize the payment of bills eligible for federal matching
funds in order to maximize revenue.
"These payments will effectively stop the bleeding of late
payment interest penalties on this portion of the backlog,"
Mendoza, a Democrat, said in a statement. "There is still a
long, hard road ahead of us, but this is a vital first step
toward smart planning for FY 2019 and beyond."
The comptroller's office has estimated that the state owes an
additional $900 million to vendors and service providers for
late payment penalties of as high as 12 percent annually.
An impasse between the Republican governor and Democrats who
control the legislature left Illinois without complete budgets
for an unprecedented two fiscal years and caused the bill
backlog to balloon to record levels.
In July, the legislature enacted a fiscal 2018 budget that
included the bond authorization, as well as an income tax hike,
over Governor Bruce Rauner's vetoes.
The Senate on Wednesday joined the House in overriding Rauner's
August veto of legislation requiring monthly instead of annual
reports from state agencies on bills they are holding.
Mendoza championed the transparency measure, which takes effect
Jan. 1, as a way to give her office, which is charged with
paying Illinois' bills, a more complete picture of what is owed.
In his veto message, Rauner said the legislation looked more
like an attempt by the comptroller to "micromanage" executive
agencies than to get the most helpful information on monitoring
the state government.
The House unanimously overrode the veto on Oct. 25.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Richard Chang)
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