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Experts: Quinn plan to pay Ill. bills might be moral thing to do, not necessarily smart thing

February 20, 2011

CHRISTOPHER WILLS - Associated Press Writer
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois financial experts question the wisdom of Gov. Pat Quinn's proposal to borrow billions of dollars to pay a stack of overdue bills, unless it's part of a broader plan to fix the state's financial problems.

That doesn't mean that adopting the measure to pay the state's debts isn't the fair thing for state government to do, some analysts said. The move might even cut some costs.

"There's a business answer and there's a moral answer," said Brian Battle, a director at the Chicago-based investment firm Performance Trust Capital Partners. "The moral answer is yeah. It's morally repugnant for hospitals and nursing homes to provide services and then for the state not to pay."

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