Illinois is ahead of schedule when it comes to a loan they took out in 2020 to cover Covid-19 expenses. Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza announced on Wednesday that the final $302 million payment on a $2 billion loan was paid off. It’s estimated that the early payback of the loan will save Illinois taxpayers $82 million in interest.

Comptroller Mendoza says it’s remarkable that the loan was paid off early.

Mendoza says it’s nice to show fiscal discipline.

Before the start of this fiscal year, the Comptroller was able to pay half the loan using regular state revenues. The loan was scheduled to be repaid in three installments by December of 2023.  Comptroller Mendoza says she used effective cash management strategies to put the state in a position to pay off the debt in its entirety early.

The loan was originally taken out in order to cover state medical bills during the pandemic.  The state is caught up though on its Medicaid payments with no additional borrowing expected in the state’s plans. The total backlog of bills is down to $3.8 billion and the state is paying bills in record time. Mendoza says that they are paying within 15 business days which is the fastest in over 20 years.