‘Illinois $70 Billion in the Hole’
CONTACT:
Darlene Porteus, 847-835-5200
dporteus@truthinaccounting.org
COMPTROLLER HYNES FINALLY ISSUES ILLINOIS’ FINANCIAL REPORT
Institute for Truth in Accounting review indicates each Illinois household’s share of state debt is now more than $14,000.
Northbrook, IL – On Friday Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes finally issued the State’s financial report for its fiscal year ended June 30, 2007.
“As they saying goes, ‘better late than never,’” commented Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the Northbrook-based Institute for Truth in Accounting. “When the legislature and Governor were formulating the State budget, they should have known that we were almost $70 billion in the hole.”
The report, which was issued almost a year after the State’s fiscal year end, indicated that each Illinois household share of the State’s debt is more than $14,000, totaling $69.7 billion. This debt includes $42 billion owed the State employees’ pension funds and $24 billion of health care benefits promised to retired State employees.
“Public corporations are required to issue their financial statements two and half months after their year end,” said the Institute’s chairman, Roger Nelson. “The federal government lives up to this standard, why can’t the state of Illinois?”
Even though Governor Blagojevich and the legislature claimed the FY 2007 budget was balanced, the income statement reported a general fund deficit $858 million dollars. Weinberg noted, “For more than twenty years Illinois’ governors and legislators have been saying the state’s budgets have been balanced.” She questioned, “Then how can we be almost $70 billion in the hole?”
The Institute for Truth in Accounting is the sponsor of the Illinois Public Accountability Pledge, which ask elected officials to introduce legislation that would require the State’s financial report to be issued on a timely basis. For more information, contact Darlene Porteus at 847-835-5200 or visit www.truthinaccounting.org.
About the Institute for Truth in Accounting
The Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA) is dedicated to promoting honest, accurate, and transparent accounting at all levels of government. As a non-partisan, non-profit organization, the IFTA works to expose accounting deficiencies while promoting better, more accessible delivery of accurate government financial data-and, in turn, providing a foundation for more informed public policy. The IFTA provides its expertise to develop more effective accounting standards and deliver accurate government financial information to policymakers, opinion leaders, and citizens so that they can work for a more secure financial future. To learn more, please visit our website at www.truthinaccounting.org.
