Illinois Valley Times

House Republican Leader Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) responded to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's latest campaign ad by accusing him of using federal COVID relief money to fund partisan projects.

"In a way that would make Mike Madigan proud, Governor Pritzker has recklessly squandered billions of dollars of federal relief payments on partisan port projects and increased government spending," Demmer posted in his Jan. 4 tweet.

Demmer responded to the ad on the same day it was uploaded to YouTube. 

"As Governor, I was determined to help fix the financial mess," Pritzker said in the video. "Now, Illinois is keeping its promises by passing real balanced budgets. We're cutting costs, paying bills on time and paying down our debt — saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars."

The 60-second video focused on the state's finances. 

"And our credit rating has been upgraded for the first time in twenty years. We're on the right track, and I'll work every single day to keep it that way," Pritzker said in the political spot. 

Debt in Illinois isn't a new problem for the state, and according to Illinois Policy it's not getting any better. Illinois received an "F" rating in Truth in Accounting's Financial State of the States report for October of last year. 

In November, when the state's pension debt was $530 billion, Center Square noted that was the equivalent of every household owing an average of $110,000 each.

The state did pay off a 2020 loan that covered COVID-related expenses this month, according to a release from the state Comptroller's office. Comptroller Susan Mendoza estimated that by doing so, it will save the state $82 million in interest.