A federal judge is ordering Illinois’ comptroller to cut checks for some services for people with developmental disabilities.
Judge Sharon Coleman told the State of Illinois that even without a spending plan - it must pay for services for Medicaid-eligible people with developmental disabilities.
She instructed Comptroller Leslie Munger - who writes the checks - to pay by last Friday, a deadline that Munger did not meet.
Today - Judge Coleman again ordered Munger to cover the costs, which attorneys for her office agreed to do.
Barry Taylor is an attorney for Equip for Equality - a group representing those with disabilities.
"Politics should not get in the way of services for people with developmental disabilities and if it is, it’s absurd."
A spokesman for the comptroller’s office says the judge expected the state to pay for those services faster than the state had the money available.