Illinois Lifts Debt Capacity

The Bond Buyer reports:

While the Illinois General Assembly’s move to bolster income taxes dominated headlines last week, lawmakers also jacked up the bonding capacity by $5 billion for capital projects and followed California’s lead by requiring underwriters to disclose their credit-default swap positions on state debt.

Illinois intends to tap the increased borrowing authority in a roughly $1.5 billion issue in late spring and another $2.5 billion in fiscal 2012, which begins July 1, state debt manager John Sinsheimer said Tuesday.

Higher taxes mean more spending of other peoples' money.