A new analysis found that Illinois lost out on millions of dollars when it sold bonds last week.
Martin Luby, with the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs, compared the recent bond sale to one in 2006, when Illinois had a much better credit rating. This week for Past Due, Jamey Dunn talked with Luby about his report.
The state sold $480 million in bonds last Thursday as a means of borrowing to fund capital construction projects. Luby found that if the state had the credit it did in 2006, it could have brought in about $53 million more. “Until the state is able to present a balanced budget, or make improvements make some progress in getting to dealing with the structural budget deficient, we will expect that the state is still going to have to pay these types of penalties on its bond sales,” he says.
