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'Man Made' Crisis Leaves Illinois 'Particularly Vulnerable'

Digging a hole. A really deep hole.
David Stillman
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Flickr.com/stilldavid (CC-BY-NC)
S&P says Illinois' fiscal crisis is "a man-made byproduct of policy ultimatums placed upon the state's budget process."

Gov. Bruce Rauner will make his annual budget address to the Illinois General Assembly this Wednesday. It comes as state government has gone more than 19 months without a real budget.

That’s led the financial experts at credit rating agencies to issue a series of downgrades and dire assessments. The latest is called "For Illinois, Having a Plan Beats No Plan." It comes from S&P Global Ratings, where Gabriel Petek analyzes state governments.

He spoke about Illinois' fiscal morass with our Statehouse reporter, Brian Mackey.

Brian Mackey covers state government for NPR Illinois. You can follow his reporting on Twitter and Facebook. A version of this interview was first broadcast on Illinois Edition on February 13, 2017.

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
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