It's utterly transparent. Keep the crisis alive along as possible so Federal money comes in to bail the state out. Illinois is fiscally fooked and he knows it. The only way out for them is to amend the state constitution and that is an absolute last resort for the powers that be.
Fed bailout $$ to states (which need to be repaid on a pre-decided schedule) should be prioritized first to states which start opening up their economy and putting people back to work.