Just one day after Illinois escaped a credit downgrade from one major rating agency, two others weighed in, with one dropping Illinois' credit ranking a notch and putting the state into a tie with California for the worst credit in the country.

Standard and Poor's rating services announced Jan. 25 that they were downgrading Illinois to an "A-/negative outlook" rating. It is the lowest rating Illinois has ever received from S&P and, if the "negative outlook" is taken into consideration, Illinois is now ranked below California.

Fitch, Moody's Ratings Held Steady

Also on Friday, Moody's Investor Services announced they were leaving the state's credit rating unchanged. But that was small consolation, since Moody's already ranked Illinois the worst in the nation. The day before, Fitch Ratings Services held Illinois' credit rating steady, but issued a "negative watch," which is a warning that the credit could be dropped if the state does not get its financial house in order.  

All three ratings were released in advance of an anticipated sale of construction bonds at the end of January.

A bi-partisan measure requiring schools to offer age-appropriate sexual assault and abuse prevention and awareness programs for children from pre-kindergarten through high school has been signed into law.

Previously in Illinois, only secondary schools were required to include sexual assault and abuse awareness education.

Known as Erin’s Law, House Bill 6193 is a bipartisan measure named after Schaumburg native Erin Merryn.  A victim of sexual assault and abuse as a child, Merryn quit her job three years ago to dedicate her life to helping victims break their silence, educating children about sexual assault and abuse, and preventing them from becoming future victims. She is an author and activist currently working to get Erin’s Law passed in all 50 states. 

A coalition of labor unions has asked for a Pension Summit with the Governor and the four legislative leaders in February. Controlling pension costs is the single biggest challenge currently facing Illinois, which has the worst-funded pension system in the nation.

The "We are One Illinois" Coalition has asked the Governor and four legislative leaders to a summit Feb. 11, at the Illinois AFL-CIO offices in Burr Ridge.

The group's invitation said it "is intended to serve as a forum to share perspectives, as well as to initiate a structured process by which we can work together to develop legislation that addresses our state's intertwined problems of inadequate revenues and underfunded pensions."