SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois state officials are offering $100 million in low-interest or interest-free loans to federal workers going without paychecks during a record 33-day government shutdown.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Treasurer Michael Frerichs told a state Capitol news conference Wednesday that the treasury’s linked-deposit program would put money in local banks that agree to offer the loans .
Federal workers are going without paychecks because of the shutdown. Republican President Donald Trump and Capitol Hill Democrats are at odds over Trump’s request for a $5.7 billion U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Pritzker says he is also exploring paying unemployment benefits to thousands of workers who have to report to work despite not receiving a paycheck.
The Democratic governors of Michigan, New York and Washington asked the administration last week for permission to do that .