June 18,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , It has been long speculated New Jersey would be the first state to go into financial chaos but the state of Illinois looks like its about to beat New Jersey to the punch. A state official responsible for paying the state’s bills is warning that new court orders mean her office must pay out more each month than Illinois receives in revenue.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza must prioritize what gets paid as Illinois nears its third year without a state budget.Like New Jersey a mix of state law, court orders and pressure from credit rating agencies requires some items be paid first. Those include debt and pension payments, state worker paychecks and some school funding.
Mendoza says a recent court order regarding money owed for Medicaid bills means mandated payments will eat up 100 percent of Illinois’ monthly revenue.
