Chambana Sun

Republican candidate for state Senate District 52 Mike Madigan recently expressed deep concern over Illinois’ continuing budget quandary, describing the state’s needs as being waylaid by the legislature’s conscious decision to stick with the “status quo.”

Citing the urgent need for school revenue and fairness to taxpayers, Madigan deplored the State Legislature’s lack of decisive resolution, referencing the difficult position that Illinois educational institutions and private companies have been forced into by lack of fiscal information.

“They have make a [conscious] decision to continue with the status quo when it comes to passing a budget that is responsible and one that would allow the universities to plan their budgets around the needed release of the revenue back to their schools,” Madigan said. “It is very hard for a university or any organization to approve a budget until they know how much money they will be getting from the state that has taken in nearly $32 billion of our hard-earned tax dollars.”

Especially challenging, said Madigan, is the fallout from the state’s recent credit rating downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service, which diminished Illinois’ bond rating from Baa1 to Baa2. Moody’s calculated the Prairie State as tallying approximately $2.3 billion in public university debt and placed the University of Illinois and six other state universities on review.

“As these universities are being downgraded debt wise this just forces them to borrow at higher rates,” he said. “This is not a good situation for them to be in.”

Additionally, U.S. News & World Report stated recently that Illinois’ public institutions of higher learning currently cost 30 to 60 percent more than out-of-state schools, decreasing the appeal for students to remain in state.