If the Governor and General Assembly won’t pass a state budget to ensure that a wide range of providers are getting paid, then it appears some Courts are willing to step in to force the issue.

The latest is the ruling from U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow ordering State Comptroller Susana Mendoza to work with Medicaid providers to come up with a plan by June 20 to make a “substantial” dent in the $2 billion that they are owed. You can read more about it here.

That follows earlier court decisions ordering that state employees and pensions continue to be paid.

In the meantime, Pay Now Illinois is actively pursuing two separate court actions. On June 14, our suit against the Governor and others will be heard in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County. And, we are still awaiting a decision from the Illinois First District Appellate Court. We argued that case on May 4.

By the time the State finishes making court- ordered payment, less money is available for everyone else – including schools – and including us. Not only that, but we aren’t even seeing signs of a measure to provide stop-gap funding, which, for many of us, saved our organizations at the end of the last budget-less year.

Just to recap the calendar, the General Assembly – which completed its regular session on May 31 without presenting a budget to Governor Rauner – has until June 30 to try again. But now instead of needing a majority vote to pass the budget, both houses will need to pass the budget by 3/5. Get ready. On July 1 we are likely to begin our third year without a budget.