© 2024 WNIJ and WNIU
Northern Public Radio
801 N 1st St.
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-9000
Northern Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

State Workers Will Get Paid -- For Now

Illinois Public Radio

Illinois government is about to prove it can function at its most basic level without a budget, at least temporarily; the state will pay its workers on time, and in full, for work performed during the first two weeks of the fiscal year.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said he wanted this to happen even after his June 25th rejection of most of the budget passed by Democrats. Then on July 9, a St. Clair County judge ordered Comptroller Leslie Munger to cut the paychecks.

The ruling by Judge Robert LeChien countered a Cook County judge's decision that only essential workers covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act should be paid, and only at the federal minimum wage.

The St. Clair Co. ruling initially affected unionized workers. But when Munger told Judge LeChien that her office's outdated computers couldn't separate union from non-union workers, he said to pay all of them.

"Those checks are supposed to go out after the 15th of the month," says Amanda Vinicky, statehouse bureau chief for Illinois Public Radio. "But I have some state employee friends and, interestingly, some said they've already been paid."

Vinicky says the ruling takes some pressure off Gov. Rauner. "He has said he'd do everything he could to make sure employees get paid," Vinicky says. "With that second ruling he can say, `I don't need to sign this budget. We can pay employees; the St. Clair judge said I could.'"

But what about the next paycheck on July 31? Vinicky expects more court action. "An appellate court up north already said it would let stand the Cook County ruling," she says, adding it's possible the matter could go swiftly to the state Supreme Court.

According to Vinicky, a protracted legal battle would make things increasingly uncomfortable for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat. Her office on Tuesday announced plans to appeal the St. Clair judge's ruling to the high court, arguing that state workers can get only minimum wage payments if the budget impasse continues.

"Madigan says it's her job as the state's lawyer to figure this out, and make sure the constitution is followed," says Vinicky. "Republicans are trying to make it look like she's creating a crisis that would pressure Gov. Rauner to give in some on his turnaround agenda in order to get a resolution on a full-year budget."

Meanwhile, the state Senate today takes up the temporary budget passed last week by the House. Gov. Rauner said again last week that he won't sign it.

Good morning, Early Riser! Since 1997 I've been waking WNIJ listeners with the latest news, weather, and program information with the goal of seamlessly weaving this content into NPR's Morning Edition.
Related Stories