Illinois' official "check writer" wants the state to do better at financial planning.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza told lawmakers the Rauner administration emptied the state's rainy day fund.
"Now fast-forward to when the world was hit by the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic. Our state's rainy day fund stood at just $60,000," she said. "Now $60,000 is not enough to cover even 30 seconds worth of state government operations. Meanwhile, half of the states in the nation had reserves in 2020 to cover more than 28.5 days of operations."
Her plan calls for automatic deposits into that fund, and a pension fund of $200 million each.





