Illinois vendor debt dipped downward to $7,373,604,402.47 during the week ending Sept. 14.

The slide down from the previous week’s $7,725,996,776.34 represents the fourth straight week debt has trended down, according to the Illinois Comptroller’s website. For the most recent week, backlogged vouchers increased by nearly 12,000, jumping to 118,185.

The state’s unpaid vendor debt has hovered in the range of $7 billion to $8 billion since Gov. Bruce Rauner announced plans to issue upwards of $6 billion in general obligation bonds, slicing the state's record-setting debt of approximately $17 billion by more than 150 percent.

Running for re-election in November’s general election against Republican Darlene Senger, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza recently enacted the Debt Transparency Act as a way of keeping taxpayers in the loop about the state’s mounting debt load.