AG Madigan Asks Judge To OK Payments Without State Budget
In this Aug. 21, 2014 file photo, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan speaks at a news conference, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
The Illinois Attorney General has asked a Cook County judge to clarify what bills the state may pay without spending authority during the budget impasse.
Democrat Lisa Madigan announced Thursday that she has been working with Comptroller Leslie Munger to identify essential services that can be funded without appropriation authority from the General Assembly.
Madigan says those include payments specified by state law and those required by court orders.
"Certainly our state's most vulnerable residents deserve access to the critical services that their lives depend on," she said. "Certainly taxpayers deserve the benefit from government operations that they help fund, and state employees deserve to be paid. Unfortunately without a budget it's difficult to ensure that these payments are made. "
Madigan, a Democrat and the daughter of House Speaker Michael Madigan, says the legislature and governor are to blame for not enacting a budget.
Republican Governor Bruce Rauner accuses the attorney general of trying to block state employees’ salaries.
Democrats tried to adopt a $2.3 billion, one-month plan Wednesday. The Senate approved the idea but a separate measure failed in the House.
Links
- State Budget Standoff Shuts Down Lincoln’s Challenge Academy
- Rauner: Shutdown Worth Pain If It Brings Change
- Champaign Social Service Groups Issue Plea To Rauner
- Health Alliance CEO On Maintaining Medicaid Services During State Budget Crisis
- Rauner, Madigan ‘Circling Like Dogs’
- Illinois Without Spending Authority; Dems Try For Temporary Plan