CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois will begin paying for programs to help young children with developmental disabilities despite not having a state budget in place.

Comptroller Leslie Munger said Wednesday that payments for early intervention providers will be processed “immediately.”

The Republican says her office determined the services should have been paid for under a previously issued consent decree that requires some social services be funded. She says she learned last week the program was “slipping through the cracks.”

Munger says her office is receiving about 5,000 phone calls per week from providers and vendors hoping to be paid during the budget impasse.

She again called on Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislators to reach a budget deal. The two sides have been fighting over a budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.

 

 

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