The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will shut down roadwork statewide if lawmakers fail to pass a budget by the end of the month, officials announced Wednesday.
IDOT will notify contractors that all construction work is to shut down on June 30 if a budget does not pass by then. The department will advise contractors to secure work zones to ensure everyone’s safety during a potential shutdown.
Roadwork projects were put in jeopardy by the budget impasse last year as well, but a stopgap bill passed in the final hour secured roadwork funding.
If no budget is passed by July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, that would mark two full years without a budget for Illinois. The state’s backlog of unpaid bills has risen to $14.5 billion.
Lawmakers left Springfield on June 1 without passing a budget, but key Illinois House and Senate Republicans said on Wednesday that they are filing a “compromise” budget plan that would have the approval of Gov. Bruce Rauner. Democratic leaders said they would review the bill when it is filed.
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Source: Chicago Sun-Times
