Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last week signed legislation allowing the state to issue $250 million of general obligation certificates in the current fiscal year to leverage additional federal matching dollars for Medicaid.
The financing also would help the state pay down its backlog of Medicaid-related bills. Illinois has a backlog of $5 billion in total bills due to limited liquidity as revenue collections continue to lag budgeted estimates.
Separately, the Illinois Senate last week advanced legislation that would increase the borrowing authority of community colleges to help them manage through the state's late payments.
The colleges could issue debt or establish a bank line of credit under the bill, which still needs House approval. The measure would allow community colleges to borrow against 150% of their share of property taxes for operations, up from the current cap of 75%.
The Senate recently approved legislation allowing the state's public universities to issue short-term debt to get through the ongoing payment delays. The bill limits the issuance to 75% of the total amount of payroll and other expense vouchers that have been submitted to the comptroller's office but are unpaid.
