CHICAGO — Today, Governor Pritzker celebrated Illinois’ ninth credit rating upgrade in just under two years.

“We are continuing to right the past fiscal wrongs in our state with disciplined fiscal leadership, and credit rating agencies and businesses alike are taking notice of Illinois’ remarkable progress,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Another credit rating upgrade means millions saved for Illinois taxpayers in interest—money back in the pockets of our state where it can better serve our residents.”

Fitch Ratings has raised Illinois’ ratings for general obligation bonds.

“In addition to building up reserves, the state has also actively reduced various long-term and budgetary liabilities, most prominently its unpaid bills, and laid a more sustainable fiscal foundation,” said Fitch’s report on the upgrade. “Illinois reduced its accounts payable balance by approximately $1 billion over the course of fiscal 2023 to less than $500 million, a level the state has not seen in more than two decades and continuing a pattern of using unappropriated surpluses to pay down bills.”

The rating of a state’s bonds is a measure of their credit quality.

A higher bond rating can mean that the state has the ability to borrow at a lower interest rate, which in turn saves taxpayers millions of dollars.

Between 2015 and 2017, the State of Illinois experienced eight credit rating downgrades and at its lowest, Illinois’ bill backlog hit almost $17 billion.

Since June 2021, Illinois has obtained nine upgrades across credit rating agencies S&P Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings, and Moody’s Investor’s Service.

Illinois is in the “A” category for all three agencies.

Before recent upgrades, Illinois had not received a categorical raise since June 2000.

Agencies have reported the following state’s actions as factors in the upgraded ratings:

• Paying down bill backlogs
• Repaying debts
• Increases fiscal transparency
• Building financial reserves
• Balancing the state budget

Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza offered up the following comments regarding the upgraded credit ratings:

“In giving Illinois our 9th credit upgrade in the past two years, Fitch Ratings noted our progress in reducing our backlog of bills to what is now a “normalized” accounts payable that stands at $1.86 billion today – down from a high of $16.7 billion during the budget impasse. Fitch credited the state for boosting its Rainy Day fund to nearly $2 billion. That fund was down to $48,000 during the impasse. Fitch encourages Illinois to bring that fund up to a level most other states have and to make greater progress paying down our pension liabilities. That is exactly what my Rainy Day and Pension Stabilization Bill, HB2515, proposes to do and I look forward to seeing it reintroduced in the next legislative session. This upgrade is a tribute to the responsible debt management my office has undertaken in recent years working with the General Assembly and Governor. These upgrades lower the state’s costs for projects like building roads and bridges, saving taxpayers money. All the hard work my staff and I have done to stabilize the state’s finances has been to get Illinois ready for its growth spurt. Illinois is open for business and we’re looking forward to future credit upgrades on the horizon.”