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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

NIU Employees, Students Will Not Be Immediately Affected By State Shutdown

NIU Today

Northern Illinois University may not be directly affected by Illinois's lack of a budget -- not yet, at least.

NIU is not planning to take away student perks, but Capital Projects at the university, like construction for the Stevens Building, would be halted. About 100 other Capital Projects would also be affected.

Al Phillips is the NIU Vice President of Finance and Administration. He went to Springfield Wednesday to plead NIU's financial case, along with other representatives from other state schools.

"We're not the point of having to discuss furloughs or layoffs at this point,” Phillips said. “We're doing everything possible to avoid that."

However, Phillips says he's planning for the worst, which is a 31 percent cut under Gov. Bruce Rauner's original plan. 

Rauner recently vetoed the Democrats' counter plan, which included a 6 percent cut to higher education. Lawmakers have not been able to agree on a temporary plan or a permanent budget for the next fiscal year.

Meanwhile, University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen has frozen hiring in the school's administration until the state's budget situation is resolved.