Illinois Gets Credit Upgrade, Still Ranks a "Sinkhole State" | The States

Today on The States: an Illinois state lawmaker and her husband seek to delay their federal fraud trial until after the election, Americans for Prosperity talks about a socialist convention in Chicago, a look at what state credit ratings actually tell taxpayers, Michigan's citizen-only voting ballot initiative officially fails while a new state grant fraud scandal emerges, Everyday Economics examines a cooling housing market, and America's Talking covers August's stronger-than-expected jobs report and new tax hikes in California.

Champaign, Illinois Democratic State Representative Carol Ammons and her husband, County Clerk Aaron Ammons, are asking a federal court to delay their trial on wire fraud and obstruction of justice charges until after the November election, citing Aaron Ammons' duties as an election official. Federal prosecutors have joined the request. Carol Ammons' attorney maintains the couple's innocence and says the prosecution was politically motivated.

Americans for Prosperity's Illinois Deputy State Director Brian Costin discusses the group's "Fight Socialism" campaign, launched to coincide with a socialist convention held this Labor Day weekend at a Chicago hotel managed by Governor J.B. Pritzker's family. Costin says the convention's platform includes abolishing police, jails, the Senate, and the Supreme Court, and points to hotel workers picketing outside the same event over wages.

The Center Square's Elyse Apel breaks down what state credit ratings from Moody's, S&P, and Fitch actually measure — a government's ability to repay bondholders, not its overall fiscal health. Minnesota holds a AAA rating but gets a "B" from Truth in Accounting, while Illinois received rating upgrades this week but remains among the group's lowest-graded "sinkhole states," alongside New Jersey.

Elyse Apel also reports that Michigan's citizen-only voting ballot initiative has officially failed to make the November ballot after the State Board of Canvassers deadlocked along party lines and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Separately, she covers a new grant fraud scandal at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, where more than $1 million from a $3.4 million grant to the American Arab Chamber of Commerce cannot be accounted for — prompting calls to abolish the agency from officials in both parties, including Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Dr. Orphe Divounguy joins Chris Krug for Everyday Economics to discuss why home builders are cutting prices and offering incentives as new home sales hit their lowest year-to-date pace since 2017, with the middle of the market — homes between roughly $500,000 and $800,000 — struggling most to find buyers at a 6.7% mortgage rate.

America's Talking covers the U.S. economy adding 162,000 jobs in August with unemployment holding at 4.1%, new polling showing 60% of voters support using AI to detect government fraud, new tax hikes passed in California's legislature, and Colorado's plan to proceed with mailing ballots to all registered voters despite ongoing litigation over a federal mail-in ballot order.