How Illinois Is 'Like A Banana Republic'

Illinois has compiled $14.6 billion in unpaid bills. It's running a deficit of $6 billion and its pension liability has soared to $130 billion. That's not the worst of it. The state's nearly two-year failure to pass a budget has sent its bond ratings careening toward junk level, downgraded a staggering eight notches below most other states. With university enrollments plummeting, large-scale social service agencies shuttering and the Chicago Public Schools forced to borrow just to stay open through the end of this school year, Illinois is beginning to devolve into something like a banana republic - and it's about to have the most expensive election the state has ever seen.

» read a special report by Politico's Natasha Korecki