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* Press release…
Governor JB Pritzker today hailed Moody’s Investor Service upgrade of Illinois bonds to A3, the second major rating agency to return Illinois’ credit to the ‘A’ category. The action also represents the eighth upgrade in less than two years under Governor Pritzker following eight downgrades under the previous administration.
The continued fiscal progress by the state of Illinois was achieved due to continued strong fiscal leadership by Governor Pritzker and Democrats in the General Assembly.
Moody’s said Illinois’ improving governance was a key consideration in the action. “We consider improving governance to be a key consideration in this action.” Illinois, it said, is “displaying improved management of its budget by making conservative revenue assumptions and applying surplus revenue towards the payment of debt and growth in reserves.”
“This credit upgrade, our second one this year, is the result of the steps we’ve taken in Illinois to put ourselves on firm fiscal footing. We have balanced our budget, paid our bills on time, cleared out decades of debt, made extra pension payments, and saved billions for a rainy day,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “There’s more work to be done, but it’s clear we have undone decades of damage and ushered a new era of fiscal responsibility in Illinois. I look forward to building on this record by working with the General Assembly to pass the state’s fifth straight balanced budget later this spring.”
Moody’s Investor Service announced a ratings upgrade to A3 (stable outlook) from Baa1 for Illinois’ General Obligation bonds, its third upgrade of Illinois’ bonds since June 2021. The last time Illinois had an A3 rating from Moody’s was prior to September 2015. Moody’s also upgraded Build Illinois sales tax bonds to A3 (stable outlook) from Baa3 (stable outlook).
S&P Global Ratings announced a ratings upgrade to A- for Illinois’ General Obligation bonds last month, its third upgrade of Illinois’ bonds since July 2021. Fitch Ratings upgraded Illinois’ bonds by two notches last spring, the first Fitch upgrade for Illinois’ General Obligation bonds since June 2000. Illinois received two upgrades from Moody’s Investor Service in two separate actions in April 2022 and June 2021.
The upgrades follow the unveiling of the Governor Pritzker’s proposed fiscal year 2024 budget which builds on four years of historic progress with balanced budgets, a Budget Stabilization Fund on track to hit $2.3 billion, elimination of the state’s bill backlog and reaching $1 trillion GDP. The proposed spending plan maintains the Governor’s commitment to fiscal responsibility while growing Illinois into an economic powerhouse and making transformative, generational investments in education and efforts to fight poverty.
The rating of a state’s bonds is a measure of their credit quality. A higher bond rating generally means the state can borrow at a lower interest rate, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
Between 2015 and 2017, the State of Illinois suffered eight credit rating downgrades and sat at the top of many analysts’ lists of the worst managed states in the nation. At its worst, Illinois’ bill backlog hit nearly $17 billion.
* Speaker Chris Welch…
In four years, Bruce Rauner brought Illinois to the brink of junk status with eight credit downgrades; our service providers were gutted, and our hardworking families suffered. Today, as we earn our eighth credit rating upgrade in less than two years, we can celebrate a real turnaround. Democrats have proven that Illinois doesn’t have to choose between being a responsible state and being a compassionate state; we can be both. I want to thank Governor Pritzker, Senate President Harmon, and the rest of my colleagues in the legislature for their commitment to ensuring a strong Illinois for all.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:30 pm
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The Speaker just redefined the “turnaround agenda”
Good on’im, too.
Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:33 pm
What’s the over/under on time for middle quadrilateral to put out their new statement from Weinberg saying this isn’t really important and Illinois is still mismanaged?
Comment by Anon324 Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:34 pm
(Increasingly) Common Illinois W
Comment by Nick Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:35 pm
Spelunkers of misery in 3 … 2 … 1 …
Good job JB and Dems. Now keep the focus up.
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:37 pm
I wish people would pay more attention to results, not rhetoric. The national deficit has decreased on the federal level as well. Democrats believe in government and its capacity to do good and believe in administrating government wisely so it can do so. They don’t like to break things.
Comment by Banish Misfortune Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:40 pm
Speaker Welch completely forgets how great the state’s finances looked like in 2003 when Democrats took total control of state government and how poor they were when Bruce Rauner won in 2015
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:43 pm
Here’s the thing;
You have ole - Lucky Pierre - begging for that Billionaire Bears Bailout, and this is why I’m gonna bring it up and tie it all together with this great news.
See, ole - LP - is gonna degrade the upgrade, and I say that because every single time, without fail, - LP - made a point of how bad, say, pension debt is, or unbalanced budgets, recently “federal money” baloney…
… and you’d think this good news this would be a thing that would be “Illinois is going the right way, let’s keep going, good in the governor, the GA, everyone, let’s work for the Bears to keep Illinois rolling”
Let’s see how this goes.
Illinois is moving forward… but…
Again, there’s no recognition of the legislative actions or constitutional requirements to debt, or how that debt is serviced within the law and the constitution.
This is just blathering…
===Moody’s Investor Service announced a ratings upgrade to A3 (stable outlook) from Baa1 for Illinois’ General Obligation bonds, its third upgrade of Illinois’ bonds since June 2021. The last time Illinois had an A3 rating from Moody’s was prior to September 2015. Moody’s also upgraded Build Illinois sales tax bonds to A3 (stable outlook) from Baa3 (stable outlook).
…
The upgrades follow the unveiling of the Governor Pritzker’s proposed fiscal year 2024 budget which builds on four years of historic progress with balanced budgets, a Budget Stabilization Fund on track to hit $2.3 billion, elimination of the state’s bill backlog and reaching $1 trillion GDP. The proposed spending plan maintains the Governor’s commitment to fiscal responsibility while growing Illinois into an economic powerhouse and making transformative, generational investments in education and efforts to fight poverty.===
I’m grateful, and reminded that the rating are still a racket and based on nothing to what Illinois does or why she does it.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:44 pm
Going from the B’s to A’s feels like a big milestone. Keep it up, all the way to AAA rating.
Comment by Blake Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:44 pm
===how great the state’s finances looked like in 2003===
All hail the Edgar Ramp.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:51 pm
What a headline. That credit rating upgrades are becoming routine blows my mind.
Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:53 pm
===how poor they were when Bruce Rauner won in 2015===
“By nearly every measure Illinois (was) worse off under Bruce Rauner”
You think this is good for the Bears?
lol
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 1:54 pm
Of course it is a Republican’s fault either Edgar, Ryan or Rauner’s
12 consecutive years of unbalanced budgets passed by Mike Madigan when Democrats ran the state had no effect
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:02 pm
With Moody’s warning about the entire US banking system (and 6 banks in particular), pretty soon the State of Illinois may be considered more creditworthy than the banks. /s?
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:06 pm
Eight down under Rauner. Eight up under JB. Rauner broke it. JB fixed it.
Not sure why this is so hard for LP to understand. I love how he had to go back to 2003 to make a point about the last eight years. It really is that simple. Rauner broke it. JB fixed it.
Comment by New Day Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:09 pm
If you’re Bruce Rauner, please give Speaker Welch a call because I don’t think he’s finished dunking on you.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:09 pm
== Here’s the thing;
You have ole - Lucky Pierre - ==
I’m just impressed with how LP can so easily get a rise out of OW on this blog. LP posts a one-sentence comment with 32 words and OW replies with multiple paragraphs totaling 312 words. (And no, I didn’t count the words manually, MS Word can do that for you.)
Comment by Occasional Quipper Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:11 pm
Hey LP. You want to talk about the state’s finances when Bruce won in 2015?
Ok, Bruce inherited a mess. Did he make things better? Or worse? Isn’t that how he should be judged?
Comment by Henry Francis Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:14 pm
===had no effect ===
Literally nobody is saying that, LP. Nobody. Our budget situation was horrific when Rauner took over and then it went into nuclear meltdown. He didn’t make things better, he made them far worse. The fact that you cannot ever admit this is what makes you seem like a besotted bot.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:15 pm
===multiple paragraphs totaling 312===
Did you include the grab from the post, ‘cause, that had nothing to do with that.
Also?
===12 consecutive years of unbalanced budgets passed by Mike Madigan when Democrats ran the state had no effect===
I called it.
You’re welcome.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:16 pm
- Our budget situation was horrific when Rauner took over -
And love him or hate him, Pat Quinn had started to turn the ship around before losing to Rauner. Rauner undid that progress and then some.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:23 pm
===Bruce inherited a mess===
He specifically ran for office and intentionally created a fiscal crisis for leverage. He was open about these two things. It’s not like he tripped and fell into the Governor’s office. Everything he did was as intentional as throwing all of the g’s away when he spoke.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:24 pm
Crain’s said best, they made it a thing, ignoring it now, years later, is only done by apologists… I’ll even throw a lil “MJM” in as Crain’s did for ole - LP -
Crain’s… “But Madigan is not the governor. Rauner is. And there’s no way to deny it: By nearly every measure, the state is worse off since Rauner took office.”
There’s no saying Illinois was good. Heck, if it *was* good, Quinn woulda won, as an incumbent… Rauner ran saying he (Rauner) would make it better.
Rauner failed.
Where did I hear that before… Rauner failed.
Pritzker?
That’s 8 upgrades.
Pritzker ain’t no Rauner.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:25 pm
Some people can’t handle good news….
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:33 pm
“… how great the state’s finances looked like in 2003 … .”
If they looked “great” in 2003, they looked much better in 1999 before Ryan squandered the benefit of the Edgar Ramp.
And LP … during Ryan, the Senate was run by Pate Philip. IF you think he was a tool of Michael J. Madigan, please make arrangements to say that to Pate’s face in public. I’d pay good money to watch that little interchange.
Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:33 pm
===intentionally created a fiscal crisis for leverage===
Correct. And he admitted it more than once.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bruce-rauner-statewide-tour-met-0407-20150406-story.html
https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/rauner-wants-budget-in-60-90-days-sees-chicago-fiscal-mess-as-leverage-poin
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:36 pm
==Speaker Welch completely forgets how great the state’s finances looked like in 2003==
So you are a fan of felon George Ryan.
Comment by Big Dipper Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:38 pm
Republican legislators ran during Rauner’s midterm on how *NOT* having a budget and causing fiscal crisis was good and backed Rauner.
“I’m frustrated too, but taking steps to reform Illinois is more important than a short term budget stalemate”
WHO said that? WHO. WHO-WHO?
Purposeful. Eight downgrades, no matter how bad it was before.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:39 pm
This totally fits in with the Republican narrative that Illinois finances are in shambles and the state needs to be saved. They should feel vindicated.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 2:58 pm
==So you are a fan==
He doesn’t know what he is a fan of. He’ll twist himself into knots to make whatever argument comes out of his head at that particular moment in time. Consistency and honesty isn’t his thing.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 3:03 pm
“12 consecutive years of unbalanced budgets”
Who signed the budgets and then managed them?
Three guesses, and none of them are “Madigan”.
What’s that OW line? Something about governors owning something?
I like LP. He can find the dross in the gold bar no matter the good news. /s
Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 3:45 pm
I can’t imagine an existence in which happiness is framed within the context of D vs R.
Comment by Cubs in '16 Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 4:28 pm
We should be able to take a moment to appreciate the fact that these credit rating increases have only been possible because Bruce Rauner wrecked the state’s bond rating in the first place, and then was so wildly unpopular as a governor and so destructive to the Republican party that the GOP has been sent to the corner where the only way they can influence policy and law is if they approach the matter of governing like a serious adult who is actually attempting to improve the lives of their constituents and the future of our State.
The Dumpster Fire that was the Rauner Administration tested our mettle and we are stronger for it. The damage he did to our institutions might take decades to repair and the far right wing lunatics that make up much of the GOP caucus threaten our civil society, but we know we can survive an [redacted] like Bruce Rauner and it will be many years before we forget that difficult lesson: Even Pat Quinn governed better than a Republican will.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 4:57 pm
The state is on the right path and has done great work to get there. Exciting to see the upward direction given the abyss of the recent past.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 5:06 pm
“Besotted bot” Good one. Flashback to “Nattering Nabob of Negativism”
Comment by West Side the Best Side Tuesday, Mar 14, 23 @ 8:23 pm