Auditor General’s report reveals Illinois’ deficit worst in nation
PERU, IL - State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said the recent report released by the Auditor General is just another clear sign of how the State desperately needs to control spending and reform the budget.
The Auditor General’s report was released almost two weeks ago, on the heels of the Comptroller’s Fiscal Year 2010 annual report on the state’s finances. Unfortunately, the audit showed that Illinois’ net worth has steadily deteriorated over the last decade, plummeting from negative $12.8 billion in FY 2003 to negative $37.9 billion in FY 2010.
Senator Rezin said the deficit in the state’s net worth reflects the difference between Illinois’ liabilities and assets. Examining a state’s net worth provides a good picture of its fiscal health. In FY 2010, Quinn's first full year in office, the state’s net assets fell $8.4 billion.
“The numbers in the Auditor General’s report are sobering,” Sen. Rezin said. “With each report released, it seems to reveal that the state’s fiscal condition is even worse and worse. As legislators, it’s our responsibility to bring fiscal sensibility to this state not only for now, but for the future as well. The Auditor General specifically recommends in this report that the Governor should work with the General Assembly to improve the State’s finances, and that is without a doubt what we should do and what we should have been doing all along.”
The audit compared the state’s fiscal year (FY) 2010 financial statement to all states but Hawaii, which has not released its statement yet. Illinois was one of only four states with a net worth deficit. However, Illinois had by far the largest deficit, at nearly 10 times the $4.2 billion deficit reported by California and still substantially more than Connecticut’s $13.7 billion deficit and New Jersey’s $28.2 billion deficit.
Sen. Rezin said she is committed to working with her colleagues in Springfield to bring fiscal responsibility to the State in the coming months. She also pointed out that the Senate Republicans provided the only comprehensive five year plan to address the State’s spending problem this past spring. The plan would have put the state budget in the black in the year 2016 while allowing the State to rollback the temporary income tax increase and pay past due bills on time without any further borrowing that would be imposed on future generations.