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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic has created a crisis more
3sudden and far more dramatic than any previously in history;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, In a period of just a year, the COVID-19 pandemic
6has infected more than 25 million people and caused the death
7of more than 450,000 people in the United States; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic has forced state and local
9governments to shut down businesses for weeks, even months, to
10protect everyone's health, with tens of millions of people
11losing their jobs within a period of weeks and millions more
12underemployed; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic continues to constitute an
14emergency that places essential workers at high risk for
15contracting the virus; public sector employees, such as first
16responders, public health staff, sanitation workers, and
17safety net enrollment staff, are among the many public
18employees saving lives, keeping communities safe, and ensuring
19that families have access to healthcare and food and roofs
20over their heads; and
 
21    WHEREAS, State and local governments are facing staggering

 

 

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1budget shortfalls as economic contraction has reduced nearly
2all forms of government revenues, with the prospect of severe
3cuts to public services, painful layoffs, and austerity
4measures on the horizon that will disproportionately impact
5Black, Brown, and Indigenous workers and communities; and
 
6    WHEREAS, State and local governments are unable to predict
7the true scale of declining revenues as costs rise sharply
8from business closings and rampant unemployment; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The public health and economic crises caused by
10the pandemic demand a robust safety net and the expansion of
11public services; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The imposition of austerity measures and service
13cuts will not only greatly increase the suffering of
14communities and families but it will also prolong our recovery
15and roll back advances we have made in creating more equitable
16communities for residents; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will be
18uneven and disastrous without reprioritization of our local
19budget; and
 
20    WHEREAS, State and local governments across the country
21pay an estimated $160 billion annually in interest payments on

 

 

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1public debt, hindering governments' ability to provide
2critical services and meet community needs; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Illinois spent $1.7 billion on interest payments
4on debt during the last fiscal year; and
 
5    WHEREAS, These high-interest payments that are intended to
6compensate creditors for the risk that borrowers will default
7on their debts have become a major drain on public budgets; and
 
8    WHEREAS, The risk of state and local governments and
9government agencies defaulting on their debts is virtually
10nonexistent because debt payments take priority over almost
11all other government expenses, and history shows that
12municipal borrower default rates are less than 0.2 percent;
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, Despite these extremely rare defaults, credit
15rating agencies give municipal borrowers lower credit ratings
16than corporations with riskier credit profiles, thereby
17forcing them to pay unreasonably high interest rates; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Credit rating agencies give municipal borrowers
19with larger concentrations of people of color lower credit
20ratings; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The Wall Street banks that underwrite the
2municipal bonds have rigged the rules to maximize profits; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Wall Street banks have a long history of
4targeting municipal borrowers with fraudulent practices and
5predatory forms of debt, of repeatedly breaking federal and
6state antitrust and securities laws, and of defrauding
7municipal borrowers with misleading information to pad their
8own bottom line; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Many of the bondholders profiting off the
10interest from municipal bonds are the same wealthy investors
11who do not pay their fair share in taxes; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
13HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
14SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Governor's Office of
15Management and Budget is urged to enter into conversations
16with the financial institutions that serve as bond
17underwriters for the State and demand that they offer the
18State long-term loans with terms of up to 30 years to meet all
19of its borrowing needs without charging any interest or fees;
20and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That we urge the Federal Reserve Bank of the
22United States to offer long-term loans with terms of up to 30

 

 

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1years to meet all of the borrowing needs of all state and local
2governments and government units in the United States without
3charging them any interest or fees.