Illinois Financial Health

I just received an email from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce that contained the following short article about the Blagojevich administration's fiscal health. I guess I am not the only person noticing.

ILLINOIS HAS WORST FISCAL HEALTH IN NATION


Nearly every state in the nation has experienced a rebounding economy. It turns out, though, that Illinois is not enjoying the benefits of other states. Illinois finished Fiscal Year 2005 with a $3 Billion deficit and is in the hole a total of $17 Billion! Only two other states finished with a deficit for the year, Wisconsin and North Carolina and New Jersey is the only other state that had negative net assets. Finally, Illinois finished 49th for total of all funds on hand.
John Filan, Illinois Budget Director, says that the picture is better than the figures indicate. "In terms of running the joint day-to-day, so to speak, we've taken in more money than we've spent," Filan said. The deficit is being blamed on the previous Republican administration even though Gov. Blagojevich has been in office over 3 1/2 years and has announced every year that the state's budget is balanced.