News Local/State

Judge: No Pay For Illinois Workers Without State Budget

By The Associated Press
 
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(Svilen.milev / CC-BY-SA-3.0)

A Cook County judge has ruled Illinois may not continue to pay state workers in full during an ongoing budget impasse.  Judge Diane Joan Larsen ruled Tuesday that Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger may pay only some workers who are covered under a federal law.

Those workers would receive federal minimum wage plus overtime.

 But attorneys for Munger say it would take the state as long as a year to determine which employees would be paid under federal law and how much.

They say that effectively means no workers will be paid until Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the Legislature approve a budget.  

Attorney General Lisa Madigan had asked the judge to clarify what state government is obligated to pay without an approved budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.

The leader of Illinois' largest state employee union says it will appeal the ruling.
 
Roberta Lynch directs Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.  She says public employees provide vital services and "should be paid for their work on time and in full.''

A spokesman for Gov. Bruce Rauner says the Republican will also seek an appeal, saying he believes state workers should be paid in full.