Illinois made a strategic decision on July 17th to accept a $68 million settlement, marking an apparent end to the highly contentious lawsuit that centers on allegations of municipal bond price-fixing.

An audit released by the Illinois auditor general exposes a disturbing mismanagement of funds at IDES, leading to $5.2 billion in fraudulent or excessive unemployment payments from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2022. The pandemic-induced unemployment surge left IDES...