The Senate’s so-called “grand bargain” isn’t soup yet, but if legislators need any further incentive to keep trying, they should read the latest downgrade report from S&P Global Ratings. “If lawmakers were to begin asserting governing control over state finances, that could help alleviate some of the pressure currently bearing down on Illinois’ credit quality,” the report said. It said, as Illinoisans already know, that the state’s fiscal crisis is “a man-made byproduct of policy ultimatums placed upon the state’s budget process.” Those “policy ultimatums” are what we know as Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Turnaround Agenda. “We believe Illinois’ distressed fiscal condition and dysfunctional budget politics now threaten to erode the state’s long-term economic growth prospects,” the report said. Keep working, lawmakers. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2017.
