Anxious legislators will once again see a deposit from the state of Illinois in their bank accounts. They’re getting paid tomorrow.
Illinois doesn’t have enough money in the bank to pay all of its own bills. As a result, the comptroller’s office is way behind paying businesses contracted to do work for the state.
The backlog of overdue bills is approaching $8 billion. A lot of money, to be sure.
But what does that even mean?
Maybe the best way to measure it: How often legislators themselves are getting paid.
In a move some suspect is an election-year play, Comptroller Leslie Munger, a Republican, is making sure lawmakers’ monthly paychecks go to the bottom of the stack with other bills.
Now that September is nearly here, their May paychecks have reached the top.
The comptroller’s spokesman says legislators' June paychecks will probably get paid in October.
