CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Governor Pritzker’s announcement that the state will not skip its next Pension payment, as proposed, is getting a thumbs up and a word of caution from the State Comptroller.Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza acknowledges, April’s state revenues were $1.5 billion higher than expected. But she warns lawmakers not to get carried away.
"This is encouraging news for the state, obviously, but it is important to remember that we are not out of the woods yet," she said.
She said there's a tendency for the legislature to see extra money, and start thinking about how to spend it. But, she said, the state has more than $6-billion in unpaid bills. But Mendoza praises Governor Priztker for canceling the so-called pension holiday that he built into the budget.
"Look, I think everyone was a little uneasy with the idea of not paying the full amount required for the pensions and certainly I prioritize pension payments every month since I became Comptroller and I plan to keep doing that. That is the best policy," she said.
She’s encouraged that April’s state revenues were a $1.5 billion more than expected and Governor Pritzker will not skip approximately $700 million in payments to the pension funds.She said, the bond rating agencies, especially, will be heartened if the state deals with its revenue responsibly. But, she said, the legislature should not plan to spend the rest of the projected revenue because projections are not certainties and there are still unpaid bills.Read State Comptroller Susana Mendoza's full statement:“Last week in testimony before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, I was pleased to announce that our April revenues were $1.5 billion higher than expected. However, I also sounded an important note of caution about those revenues. It is important to keep in mind that we still face a $6-to-$8 billion backlog of pending bills with no dedicated revenue stream to pay them. We have aggressively targeted the state’s highest-interest-accruing bills with those receipts, bringing the backlog lower than it would otherwise be, to $6.07 billion as of today. “While we cannot confirm or deny the Dept. of Revenue’s projection of $800 million more than expected for Fiscal Year 2020 at this time, we are hopeful and will continue to research this possibility thoroughly. My office has prioritized pension payments and debt service since I took office and that will be our policy going forward.”