* Yvette Shields at the Bond Buyer…

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s plan to use surpluses to pay down bills and bolster reserves and pension contributions drew positive reviews from rating agency analysts. […]

“The reserve and pension action are modest in scope, but positive and symbolic of the state’s fiscal improvement,” CreditSights said in a brief review of the proposed Illinois budget authored by John Ceffalio, senior municipal research analyst, and Patrick Luby, senior market strategist. “The governor’s proposals are likely to meet with approval by credit rating agencies leaving Illinois poised for positive rating news this calendar year as its credit slowly normalizes.” […]

“To the state’s credit, they’ve unwound many of the one-time budget maneuvers implemented before and during the early months of the pandemic, and have also continued progress in paying down the bills backlog to much more sustainable levels,” said Eric Kim, Fitch’s lead analyst on Illinois. “There are some proposals in the executive budget that clearly target the state’s biggest credit challenges.” […]

“It is a budget based on reasonable assumptions that is addressing some of the credit risks we’ve discussed so to that end it is a budget that is taking steps in a positive direction,” said Geoffrey Buswick, lead Illinois analyst at S&P. S&P’s positive outlook assigned last November reflects a one-in-three chance of an upgrade over a two-year time frame. […]

“In general, any additional money that goes to reserves or pays down long-term liabilities that are coming from excess revenues we view positively,” said Moody’s lead Illinois analyst Matthew Butler. “We are not losing sight that Illinois still faces more long-term liabilities and cost pressures than other states but given current revenue performance the state is able to take additional positive steps forward.”

* Meanwhile, from Shruti Singh at Bloomberg…

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is urging the top three credit rating firms to again bump up her state because of its mounting fiscal improvements that already led to its first upgrades in two decades last year.

“I believe Illinois is due to be recognized for our current achievements and plans to further strengthen our financial situation, and I believe these are strong indicators that favor upgrading Illinois’s credit rating,” Mendoza wrote in a letter dated Feb. 4, viewed by Bloomberg News. […]

“The governor’s proposals are likely to meet with approval by credit rating agencies, leaving Illinois poised for positive rating news this calendar year as its credit slowly normalizes,” CreditSights Inc. wrote in a report on Feb. 2. […]

“Those are positive steps forward,” Matthew Butler, vice president-senior credit officer for Moody’s, said in an interview last week.

S&P analyst Geoffrey Buswick said a budget proposal by itself wouldn’t trigger a credit action and there are still months of budget negotiations ahead of the state. Lawmakers have to approve Pritzker’s spending plan.

The comptroller’s full letter is here.