Not waiting for credit rating downgrades, Illinois general obligation bonds are already trading at junk bond levels.

 A federal judge has cleared the way for yet another group of lawsuits demanding the financially-troubled state of Illinois be forced to more promptly process and pay Medicaid claims, saying federal law allows Medicaid recipients and, by extension, health care agencies to sue the state for failing to abide federal law requiring the payment of Medicaid claims “with reasonable promptness.”

House Bill 2379 would require fiscal impact statements on every executive order. However, less than 3 percent of bills enacted into law in the 99th General Assembly had fiscal notes.