CHICAGO, June 27 (Reuters) - While a legislative committee reopened a debate on how to fix Illinois pensions, a panel of municipal analysts said on Thursday that the state paid "dearly" for its bond sale this week. Rising interest rates will only increase the state's borrowing costs, the analysts added. Investors demanded hefty yields to take on Illinois' $1.3 billion in tax-exempt general obligation bonds on Wednesday as the state struggles with a huge unfunded public pension liability that has eroded its credit ratings. Interest rates in the deal topped out at 5.65 percent for bonds due in 25 years, compared with 3.83 percent for top-rated muni issuers. That resulted in a 182-basis-point...
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