The Associated Press reports that the Illinois state government, $11 billion in debt,  is not paying local social service agencies:

Illinois is millions of dollars behind in making payments, and many groups haven’t been paid by the state since the fiscal year began in July, a situation that longtime providers said is unprecedented. They’ve gotten used to building their annual budgets around state funding and have been blindsided by the delays.

The Education Service Network in north-central Illinois has shuttered all but one of its half-dozen programs, said Paul Nordstrom, regional superintendent of schools for Grundy and Kendall counties.

That program, an alternative high school, was saved by an emergency $200,000 grant secured by an area legislator. Gone are the network’s programs for early childhood education, after-school care, truancy, and drug and alcohol prevention that served hundreds of students across three counties.

Many Education and health agencies here in Chicago are sitting on their hands hoping that the state takes out an emergency loan, or even better, receives federal assistance. Part of the reason Illinois has not drawn up a better way to provide money to social service agencies is that the governor and state comptroller are in charge of funding these agencies. And Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is being challenged in his 2010 election bid by — wait for it — Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes. Since Hynes declared his candidacy, the two have not collaborated on any substantive plan to deal with the state budget crisis.

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