Illinois Begins Fiscal Year 2016 without a Budget
With the rejection last week of the $2.3 billion temporary budget proposed by Democrats in the Illinois Legislature as a way to avoid a government shutdown, lawmakers left Springfield for the Fourth of July weekend without an approved budget in place, resulting in what’s being referred to as a “partial” government shutdown. The State is now operating without a 2016 budget, leaving critical social and other services at risk of being unfunded and state workers wondering about their pay checks.
Essential State services, such as public safety, will continue to receive funding, and Ill. Gov. Bruce Rauner has said he believes he can pay all state employees.
Rauner and Attorney General Lisa Madigan, however, have gone back and forth on that issue.
Madigan last week filed an action in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking an order clarifying whether the State can continue to make timely authorized payments to fund critical government services in the midst of the partial shutdown.
Without a State budget in place, the Illinois Constitution and laws significantly limits payments the State can make.
“The Illinois Constitution clearly states that without a budget, the State’s authority to fund government operations and services is severely limited,” Madigan said. “I am
bringing this action to ensure that legally supported expenditures can continue to be made and to address the question of how the state payroll is legally managed during the budget impasse. It is my hope that by securing a court order clarifying these expenditures, the Legislature and the Governor can enact a budget to fund State government for the new fiscal year. If not, I fear those who need the State’s services the most will suffer the greatest.”
In preparation for the start of the new fiscal year, Madigan, according to information provided on her website, is working with Comptroller, Leslie Geissler Munger to determine what payments can continue without a State budget in place.
Madigan also wants clarification on payments that help fund critical government services, such as medical care for children in foster care, residential placements for mentally disabled individuals, food assistance for low-income families, and the operation of the state hotline to report child abuse and neglect as well as clarification on the State’s obligation to comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act by paying State employees the federal minimum wage until a budget is enacted and they can receive their full paychecks.
July 15th is the first scheduled payday for state employees after the start of the shutdown.
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