 The credit default swap spread for the Illinois general obligation
bonds increased to 313 basis points for a five-year contract, which
means a bondholder must pay over 3 percent of the bond’s face value
per year to be insured against default. California’s five-year
credit default swap is currently at 293.Illinois has been
downgraded 17 times in its history, with almost half of those
occurring during the past 1 1/2 years.
Financial bills now law
Several financial bills were signed into law this week, including
payday loan reform, research and development tax credits, and sales
tax and revenue bonds.
House Bill 537 (Public
Act 96-0936) will reform the Payday Loan Act and Consumer
Installment Loan Act to protect consumers from excessive fees and
predatory lenders who take advantage of borrowers who use these
short-term loan programs.
Senate Bill 3655 (Public
Act 96-0937) extends a tax credit meant to encourage research
and development, which should help the economy by giving businesses
more incentive to spend money on research in Illinois.
Senate Bill 2093 (Public
Act 96-0939) creates the sales tax and revenue bonds that will
be used to develop the $378 million Millennium Development in
Marion. The developer has estimated that the project would create
6,000 jobs during construction and 5,685 full-time jobs when
completed.
Road construction updates
The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced that
weather permitting, work will begin Monday to repair depressions in
the pavement at four specific locations on U.S. Route 51, from four
miles south of Clinton to north of Elm Street in Wapella. There are
three locations northbound and one southbound. The work is expected
to take one to two weeks.
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A section of storm sewer will be repaired on U.S. 150 eastbound,
approximately one mile west of Danville. This work is estimated to
last one week. During construction, traffic will be reduced to one
lane in the all work areas. The overall project is scheduled to be
completed by the end of July, weather permitting.
Motorists are advised to slow down and drive carefully through
all work zones.
A reminder: As of Jan. 1, it is illegal in Illinois for drivers
to talk on their cell phones while driving through a highway
construction zone or school zone. The new law also prohibits drivers
from writing, sending or reading text messages, instant messages and
e-mail, as well as surfing the Web while driving.
[Text from
Capitol Commentary]
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