|
 Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed an emergency motion asking the
high court to take up conflicting lower-court orders dealing with
state worker paychecks in the absence of an enacted fiscal 2016
budget.
"The court can provide important guidance on what the constitution
allows when the governor and Legislature have failed to act," a
statement from the attorney general's office said.
Earlier on Monday, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger
announced that her office has processed payroll for Wednesday's pay
day in the wake of last week's order by a St. Clair County Circuit
Court judge giving her office the green light to pay all state
workers on time and in full.
 That court decision conflicted with a prior Cook County Circuit
Court ruling that allowed only for federal minimum wage payments to
certain state workers as required under the U.S. Fair Labor
Standards Act. Munger's office had argued it was unfeasible to meet
that requirement given Illinois' antiquated computer systems and
that the state could face stiff federal penalties for noncompliance.
Reaction to Madigan's filing was not immediately available from
Munger's office.
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Paying workers would relieve some of the pressure on lawmakers and
Governor Bruce Rauner to agree on a fiscal 2016 budget. The Illinois
Senate will be back in session on Tuesday to take up a $2.26
billion, one-month budget and payroll bill passed by the House last
week.
Rauner, who vetoed a $36 billion full-year budget passed by
Democrats, has said he opposes their temporary budget as well.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Leslie Adler and Dan Grebler)
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