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State Debt Mounts at Year's End
Despite Governor Pat Quinn saying all the state's bills will be paid by the end of the year, the state will still have a huge mound of bills along with debt by the time Dec. 31 rolls around.

With the state owing billions of dollars to vendors, schools and health care providers, Quinn says the state is paying bills and will have everything paid off by the end of the calendar year as outlined by law. But that doesn't mean Illinois is out of the hole, as bills to be paid by the end of 2011 begin to pile up.

So will Illinois cut its deficit by the end of the year? Quinn says there's no way to know what the future holds.

"It's hard to say, I mean that's the future," Quinn said. "I can"t predict the future with absolute accuracy but we are moving forward here."

Meanwhile both Quinn and his Republican opponent, State Senator Bill Brady, haven"t spelled out how exactly how they would permanently fix the budget. Brady even plays down the need for painful sacrifice.

The two candidates are clear, however, on their general approach: Quinn has cut spending and now wants to raise income taxes. Brady wants to cut taxes and reduce spending, although he won't identify the cuts.

Former state budget director Joan Walters says it's not clear that either candidate has a clue.

(Illinois Radio Network)
09 17 10 by Newsroom
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