State Union Threatens Legal Action If Paychecks Delayed
As a budget crisis continues to loom in Illinois, on Monday Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan warned the state’s workers “cannot be paid without an enacted budget for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday,” Reuters reports. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democrats controlling the state legislature are still at loggerheads in the budget debate. In the meantime, the state’s largest labor union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, says its workers will remain on the job even without a budget deal and would take legal measures to ensure workers are paid in full and on time. Gov. Rauner’s spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said the governor was hoping to come to an agreement with unions to keep union workers paid per Federal and state laws. Kelly noted an agreement made in 2007 and said, “We are ready to reach a similar agreement with state workers and hope the Attorney General reconsiders her efforts to block state workers from getting paid.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Rauner met with legislative leaders on Monday, but they failed to reach a compromise. State House Republican Leader Jim Durking said, “We’re no closer today than we were a month ago on negotiating a budget. Nothing’s changed. We are looking for reform, Democrats are looking for revenue.”
What This Means For Small Businesses
While a government shutdown is certainly not ideal, particularly for those small business owners who do business with the state, it may be the step needed to get Democrat leaders to finally compromise on Governor Rauner’s key economic reforms. The Governor has consistently stated he will not support any type of tax increase unless it comes with significant reforms for the business community, such as workers’ compensation reform and prevailing wage changes.
Additional Reading
NFIB previously noted the Illinois budget stalemate.
Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.
