Illinois Stops Paying Its Bills, but Can’t Stop Digging Hole

Sally Ryan for The New York Times

Illinois Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes. The state faces a deficit of at least $12 billion.

By MICHAEL POWELL
Published: July 2, 2010

CHICAGO — Even by the standards of this deficit-ridden state, Illinois’s comptroller, Daniel W. Hynes, faces an ugly balance sheet. Precisely how ugly becomes clear when he beckons you into his office to examine his daily briefing memo.

Payback Time

Articles in this series are examining the consequences of, and efforts to deal with, growing public and private debts.

He picks the papers off his desk and points to a figure in red: $5.01 billion.
“This is what the state owes right now to schools, rehabilitation centers, child care, the state university — and it’s getting worse every single day,â€