Quinn Tries to Skip $75 Million in Raises

(With additional reporting from The Associated Press)

Gov. Pat Quinn wants to cancel raises for thousands of state employees to help cope with the Illinois budget crisis.

The administration notified 14 state agencies and the affected unions that the 2 percent raises won't be paid as required by contract.

Quinn's office says lawmakers did not provide enough money in the new budget to cover raises for nearly 30,000 employees. Quinn spokeswoman Mica Matsoff says 14 agencies won't have enough money to operate for the full budget year if salaries go up. Canceling the raises would save more than $75 million.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall stated:

"With his illegal and irresponsible actions today, Governor Quinn has trampled on the collective bargaining process and broken his contract with the men and women who do the real work of state government."

"These tens of thousands of Illinois state employees impacted care for disabled veterans, risk their lives in state prisons, monitor paroled convicts, protect children from abuse and neglect, rush to assist in disasters, and much more," Lindall added. "AFSCME will aggressively pursue every available legal recourse to ensure that the collective bargaining agreement is honored and employees are paid according to their contract.