Was Illinois Debt Disproportionately Penalized by the Market During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

There was much uncertainty and concern during the early days of the pandemic about the finances of state and local governments. Lower-rated bond issuers, like the state of Illinois and some other state and local governments, tend to suffer more from interest rate increases during uncertain times. The authors use a set of publicly available data and find that Illinois bond issuers paid a relatively higher price for their bond issues due to its perceived precarious fiscal position entering the COVID-19-induced economic downturn.