$728,591,449.56. That is the amount of money that
Illinois schools are waiting to receive from the State as of March 11, 2010.
This week the office of the Senate President released a detailed report that shows line-by-line each and every voucher that awaits payment from the State. Some requests go as far back as October 2009.
The report reveals millions of dollars owed to school districts for mandated services such as transportation, nutrition and special education. In large part, the overdue funds are used to pay for the personnel who manage, implement and maintain these services.
Senate Democrats issued the report to expose the grim reality and impact of the long economic recession facing
Illinois and virtually every other state in the
Union. Checks have not been issued to schools because revenues have dropped significantly and state bank accounts do not have the cash flow to make the payment on vouchers as they come in. As a result, the backlog of bills due has reached into the billions of dollars.
With
Illinois facing a $13 billion deficit, interest groups, legislators, politicians and pundits continue to propose both realistic and unrealistic solutions to this historic fiscal crisis. And, without bi-partisan support for revenue reforms, schools and service providers will continue to lay off employees and wait for hundreds of millions in state support.
[span class=download]CLICK HERE to download a copy of the report[/span]