SPRINGFIELD — Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday announced a deal that will allow the state to pay off the rest of its pandemic unemployment insurance debt, a payment that will save taxpayers an estimated $20 million in interest costs that would have been due next year.
Flanked by the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the AFL-CIO and Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Pritzker announced the state had reached a deal via the agreed bill process to contribute $1.8 billion and add $450 million as an interest-free loan to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
