Comptroller Susana Mendoza Announces the Office’s Top Highlights of 2025

For the fourth consecutive year, Illinois began July with all General Revenue Fund bills paid and sustained a $1.9 billion cash balance at year-end.

Dec 28, 2025 3:19 PM Dec 22, 2025 4:04 PM

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Comptroller Susan Mendoza SPRINGFIELD - As the year draws to a close, Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza is highlighting some of the top moments in her office over the past year.

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“2025 was a year of uncertainty and confusion at the federal level, but here in Illinois, my office continued to work hard to bring stability to our service providers, transparency to the public, and financial responsibility to state government finances,” said Comptroller Mendoza.

#10:Bills paid: For the fourth year in a row, the Illinois Office of Comptroller (IOC) kicked off the new fiscal year on July 1st with all the state’s General Revenue Fund (GRF) bills paid. The IOC also reported an end-of-year GRF cash balance of $1.9 billion. The office continues to keep within a 15-day payment cycle for state vendors and service providers for over the past three years.

#9: For the love of Southern Illinois: Comptroller Mendozacontinued to promote the wonders and increased economic development in the region. The Comptroller brought a group of Chicago area business leaders from Central Asia to Southern Illinois, introducing them to beautiful areas like the Garden of the Gods and showing them potential downstate investment opportunities.

#8:Showcasing our communities: Comptroller Mendoza filmed several videos this year, giving people a glimpse into some of the state’s most fascinating communities and inviting everyone to visit. In the videos, she takes viewers on a tour of shops, restaurants and attractions that make Illinois so unique. Stops include Little Village, Asia on Argyle, Chinatown, the Southeast Side of Chicago, Southern Illinois, Morton, the Du Quoin State Fair, the Illinois State Fair, and more. You can find all these videos on the Comptroller’s YouTube channel. In previous years, Comptroller Mendoza highlighted Galesburg, Springfield, Kaskaskia and Vandalia.

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#7:New podcast: This year, the Illinois Office of Comptroller (IOC) launched The Mendoza Podcast: Financial Talk that Makes Cents. The podcast is hosted by Comptroller Mendoza and covers a wide range of topics including the basics of investing, the Southern Illinois economy and tourism, discussing finances with your spouse, pet adoption, insurance, saving for college, budgeting, breast cancer screenings, utility bills, buying and selling a home, the fate of the penny and prevailing wage laws. The Mendoza Podcast is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

#6: Serving the public: As of November 30th, the IOC’s call centers handled more than 113,000 calls, helping Illinoisans with questions about payments, lost checks, tax refund inquiries and wage garnishments. Our staff is trained to quickly help the public get what they need or can refer callers to the appropriate agency.

#5:Prevailing wage enforcement. Comptroller Mendoza’s efforts to ensure workers on publicly funded projects are paid fairly continued this year. Office prevailing wage officers received 185 inquiries and saw 76 cases resolved in 2025. The program makes it easy to file an inquiry if a worker feels they aren’t being paid the prevailing wage as required by law.

#4:Rainy Day Fund continues to grow: The state’s Rainy Day Fund now stands at more than $2.4 billion dollars. It’s an emergency account meant to be used in the case of fiscal emergencies such as another global pandemic or major recession. Comptroller Mendoza has made it her mission to build up the state’s reserves, continuing to advocate for more regular payments into the fund.

#3:State debt transparency: In March, Comptroller Mendoza launched a new website detailing Illinois’ bond debt. The state issues bonds to pay for large capital projects like building new roads and schools. The new website provides information about specific budget-related bonds issued by the state, and the progress made in paying them down. The Comptroller has made fiscal transparency the hallmark of her administration, wanting the public to be able to see exactly how their tax dollars are being spent.

#2: Pre-paying pensions: The idea of pre-paying pension payments was championed by Comptroller Mendoza and signed into law last year. The idea is that the state can make these pre-payments when revenue is strong, letting the five pension systems keep more money in their portfolios and earn a higher rate of return. In 2025, the IOC made its second and third pension pre-payments, and the pension systems estimate this brought in an additional $41 million+ in earnings.

#1:10th credit rating upgrade! In October, Moody’s announced the state’s 10th credit rating upgrade in recent years. This continues a string of upgrades under Comptroller Mendoza’s watch after years of the state’s credit ratings falling into the dumpster. She champions fiscal discipline, building up the state’s Rainy Day Fund and cash management tools like pre-paying pensions to keep those ratings climbing.

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