The state’s unpaid vendor debt trickled down during the week ending June 22, finishing at $6,838,969,832.77.
The dip under $7 billion represented the first time over the last several weeks that debt has come in under that figure. After climbing as high as $16 million, the state’s unpaid debt-load has hovered in the range of $6 to $7 billion ever since Gov. Bruce Rauner moved to issue $6 billion worth of general obligation bonds, all of which was applied to the state’s debt after it had spiraled to a record-high levels.
State Comptroller Susan Mendoza recently went on record with the revelation that much of the state’s recent debt stems from late payment penalties, which, in the last three years, have eclipsed the totals amassed during the previous 18 years combined.
More recently, several of the state’s biggest creditors have insisted that they haven’t received interest payments in well over a year.
To keep taxpayers in the loop about the state’s massive debt load, Mendoza recently initiated the Debt Transparency Act Report, which requires state agencies to report monthly liabilities in a manner outlined by the comptroller’s office.
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