 Once intended as a stopgap, the months-long delay in paying bills
has now become a regular part of the state's budget management,
forcing businesses and charity groups to borrow money, cut jobs and
services, and take on personal debt. Getting paid can be such a
confusing process that it requires begging the state for money and
sometimes has more to do with knowing the right people than being
next in line.As of early last month, the state owed on 166,000
unpaid bills worth nearly $5 billion, with nearly half of that
amount more than a month overdue, according to an Associated Press
analysis of state documents. Hundreds of bills date back to 2010,
and the actual amount owed is likely higher because some bills are
still in the pipeline.
The unpaid bills range from a few pennies to nearly $25 million.
In early September, for example, Illinois owed $55,000 to a
small-town farm supply business for gasoline, $1,000 to a charity
that provides used clothing to the poor, $810,000 to a
child-nutrition program.
Even death involves delays in Illinois. Funeral homes were
waiting for $2.8 million in overdue reimbursement for burying
indigent people.
Leigh Ann Stephens wrote a letter in August "asking, pleading"
for $50,000 the state owed to the DuPage Center for Independent
Living, where she is executive director. It was the third time in
two years that she had sent a hardship letter warning that the
center, which helps people with disabilities live outside of costly
nursing homes, would close if it wasn't paid.
The letter got results, for now, but it hasn't reversed cuts.
Stephens has laid off one of eight employees, stopped opening on
Fridays, cut back hours for part-time workers and reduced salaries
7.5 percent for herself and the other full-time worker. Like their
clients, most of the employees are disabled, coping with blindness,
loss of hearing, cerebral palsy and more.
"This is not just a job for me. It's a way of life," Stephens
said. "I can be angry. I can be sad. I can be so mad that I cry. I
have thrown things across the room."
The delays have prompted relatively little public outcry, perhaps
because so much attention has been focused on other budget battles,
or there is no one politician or agency to blame. It also reflects
resignation from some vendors who no longer expect the
corruption-plagued Illinois government to function properly.
Illinois leaders join in bemoaning the crisis but haven't been
able to find a solution.
"God, how much more can our people take?" said Comptroller Judy
Baar Topinka, a veteran politician responsible for trying to pay a
seemingly infinite stack of bills with the finite amount of money
approved by legislators and the governor.
Delaying payments during tough times is nothing new for Illinois,
though past delays were shorter and more limited. Under former Gov.
Rod Blagojevich, big spending collided with a recession that sent
state revenue spiraling downward. Illinois could no longer afford to
pay its bills and the backlog exploded.
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Blagojevich's replacement, Democrat Pat Quinn, raised income
taxes and trimmed spending, but that money was gobbled up by other
needs, primarily rising pension costs. Under budget agreements with
legislative leaders, all Democrats, bills continued to go unpaid.
As recently as June 2008, Illinois paid its bills seven days
after state agencies finished the paperwork. A year later the delay
had reached 99 days. It stood at 118 days in June of this year, the
comptroller's office said.
Who gets paid sometimes depends on who complains the loudest or
can get a politician to step in.
Illinois grants "expedited payment" to vendors who say they're on
the verge of shutting down if they don't get their money, but the
process lacks clear rules. The Illinois governor and comptroller
each say the other makes the final decision on payments, and
documents show a letter of support from a legislator -- Republican
or Democrat -- can often shake loose money for vendors.
Many states use the budget gimmick of delaying payments when
money is tight, but Illinois is seen as the worst.
"I think you win the championship," agreed Elizabeth Boris, an
expert on nonprofit groups for the Urban Institute think tank.
Illinois ranked No. 1 in the country in the percentage of
nonprofit groups facing payment delays, an Urban Institute survey
found. Eighty-three percent said late payments from state and local
government were a problem in Illinois, compared with a nationwide
average of 53 percent. That survey was conducted in 2009, when
Illinois' backlog was still in the middle of its dramatic rise.
"We are basically bankrolling the state. It's a ridiculous
situation," said Abha Pandya, CEO of Asian Human Services, a Chicago
organization awaiting payment on $609,000 in bills. "It's just
absolutely awful, and there seems to be no end in sight."
[Associated Press;
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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