(CBS) – Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed court papers that could mean state employees would stop getting paid until there is a state budget.
Months ago, a St. Clair County court ordered the state to keep paying workers, even without a budget. Now, Madigan is trying to overturn that order, effective at the end of February.
She indicates it’s a move designed to get the Legislature to enact a state budget because the court order has “removed much of the urgency for the Legislature and the Governor to act on a budget.”
“With a new legislative session now underway, this is an appropriate time to ask the Circuit Court to reconsider this order in light of the changes in the law,” Madigan is quoted as saying.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has been at odds with the Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly over spending plans, though “stopgap” budgets have been hammered out. Cash-strapped Illinois government is billions of dollars behind in paying its bills.
The Illinois Senate recently has been working on a package of state budget bills as a potential compromise with Rauner. He has demanded broader reforms in state government before he’ll approve new revenue sources, including tax or fee increases.
“It’s disappointing to see any move to stop employee pay and disrupt government services, especially now as the Senate is on the verge of a bipartisan agreement to enact a balanced budget with changes to the system,” a Rauner spokesperson said in a statement.
“We urge the Attorney General to reconsider this filing.”
Lisa Madigan, a former state senator, is the daughter of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, who is considered the governor’s chief political nemesis.
from CBS Chicago http://ift.tt/2jveicV
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