About Us

UPDATE -- February 9, 2017:

Pay Now Ilinois filed a complaint today in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, asking to be paid for services delivered under contracts dating back to the start of fiscal year 2017, which began on July 1, 2016. A list of plaintiffs in the new Pay Now Illinois Coalition can be found here.

Click here to read the lawsuit filed on February 9, 2017.

UPDATE: Pay Now Illinois is appealing the August 31 decision by the Circuit Court of Cook County to deny plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary and permanent injunction and grant the defendants’ motions to dismiss the Pay Now Illinois lawsuit against the Governor, Comptroller, and seven state department heads.  

Click here to read the list of plaintiffs who are appealing the August 31 court decision, and and here to read the Appellants' Brief to the First Judicial Circuit of the Illinois Appellate Court, December 20. 

Pay Now Illinois is a coalition of 97 agencies and companies based in Illinois that provide essential human and social services to vulnerable populations. Our services include housing for the homeless, healthcare, services for senior citizens, sexual abuse counseling and programs for at-risk youth.

Since July 1, 2015 - more than a year - we have been working for the State of Illinois under signed contracts. Yet we have not been paid. Collectively, Coalition members are owed more than $161 million by the State of Illinois.

This cannot continue. So we are suing the Governor, the Comptroller and seven department heads, asking the Court to enforce our contracts with the State so we are paid immediately and in full. We have upheld our end of a legal agreement; the State must uphold its end.

Our actions are unprecedented because the situation is dire. The lack of funds is undermining our ability to continue to serve people in need, and threatening the viability of some agencies. But the real loser will be Illinoisans because we all suffer when children aren't safe or educated, when families live on the street and when the sick do not have access to healthcare.

Click here to see which agencies were members of the original Pay Now Illinois Coalition.