SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office is rejecting calls from the Democratic state treasurer to stave off fiscal crisis with personal visits to New York bond houses.
Treasurer Michael Frerichs (FRAYR’-iks) told a Chicago news conference Monday that the Republican governor must commit to enacting a $36 billion spending plan with a $5 billion income-tax increase.
Frerichs says Rauner should personally deliver his pledge to keep major bond-rating houses from downgrading the state’s creditworthiness to “junk” status. A big problem is a $15 backlog of overdue bills.
Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis (ih-LEH’-nee dih-MURT’-ziss) says the credit-rating agencies are still frowning on Illinois finances because the income tax increase won’t “solve the problems created by decades of unbalanced budgets.”
Rauner says the current budget is $2 billion out of whack.
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