The Illinois attorney general has asked a Cook County judge to clarify what bills the state may pay without spending authority during the budget impasse.
Democrat Lisa Madigan announced Thursday that she has been working with Comptroller Leslie Munger to identify essential services that can be funded without appropriation authority from the General Assembly.
Madigan says those include payments specified by state law and those required by court orders.
The state is two days into its 2016 fiscal year but a dispute between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and majority Democrats in the Legislature has held up approval of a yearlong spending plan.
Democrats tried to adopt a $2.3 billion, one-month plan Wednesday. The Senate approved the idea but a separate measure failed in the House.
Illinois’ comptroller says she can’t pay state employees for their work during a government shutdown.
But the governor wants her to.
Republican Comptroller Leslie Munger was clear last month.
“If the General Assembly is unable to work with the governor to enact a balanced budget for Fiscal Year 16 by the end of this month, nearly all payments coming from my office will stop on July First.”
Now that it’s past July first and politicians still haven’t agreed on a budget - she’s asking for a legal resolution.
“We are asking the courts to make clear what we can and cannot pay.”
- Illinois Public Radio reporter Tony Arnold and the Associated Press contributed to this report