Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is authorizing a major borrowing plan to pay down part of the state's nearly $15 billion dollar backlog of bills.
Lawmakers approved a state budget over Rauner’s veto earlier this summer.
That budget called for borrowing $6 billion dollars.
Rauner waited about two months to authorize that borrowing - racking up even more late fees for all the unpaid bills.
In an interview with WBEZ - Rauner says the budget is still not balanced - but he wants to bring discipline to the state’s finances.
RAUNER: I’ll be working with the General Assembly to get the budget truly balanced for the first time in decades. I’ll never give up on that.
Rauner says he’s proposing $500 million dollars in cuts.
But those would still need lawmakers’ approval.
