National Public Radio
This news segment is about how some states are coping with severe budgetary troubles in the current recessed economy. In a discussion of the State of Illinois, Civic Federation President Laurence Msall says Illinois’ fiscal troubles are not just the result of the bad economy, but also the State’s inability to produce a balanced budget and reduce its spending in the face of revenue declines. Mr. Msall explains that because the State has been borrowing huge sums of money to help pay its bills, a practice that has caused the State’s bond ratings to drop, Illinois taxpayers will have to pay an additional $551 million in interest payments.