Fitch downgrades Illinois outlook to ‘negative’

Illinois faces a possible downgrade by Fitch Ratings on $26.2 billion of general-obligation debt after lawmakers this week failed to repair the nation’s worst- funded state retirement system.

Fitch today changed its outlook on the state to negative from stable. The company rates Illinois A, its sixth-highest grade. The state has unfunded retirement obligations of about $95 billion, according to the company.

The outlook “reflects the ongoing inability of the state to address its large and growing unfunded pension liability,” Karen Krop, a Fitch analyst, wrote in a report released today.

The state had the weakest pension system in the U.S., with 39 percent funding for five major groups of public employees, according to the Civic Federation, a Chicago-based nonprofit research group.

“The burden of large unfunded pension liabilities and growing annual pension expenses is unsustainable,” Krop said.

Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s also grade the state their sixth-highest level.