An Illinois appellate court has upheld a county judge's decision that state employees should get full pay even during the state's budget crisis.
A panel of judges in the Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon approved Friday a temporary restraining order issued by a St. Clair County judge. The panel says employees who are represented by unions that sued the state have a ``protectable right to be paid.''
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature are in a weeks-long standoff over a budget plan for the fiscal year that started July 1. Rauner wants spending controls, and Democrats want to close a $4 billion gap for vital services.
The First District Appellate Court last week reversed a Cook County order that, without a budget, there can be no pay for state workers other than those who fall under a federal minimum-wage requirement.
