"These critical payments, which have been delayed because of the budget impasse, will be issued immediately," Hynes said. "My staff will be working round-the-clock to ensure these payments reach their intended recipients as quickly as possible."

Hynes said more than $340 million in school aid payments will be issued today, as will worker's compensation payments of nearly $1.7 million.

"We are prioritizing payments to ensure the most critical needs are met first," Hynes said. "Some of these recipients have been waiting nearly an entire month to receive their checks, funding they depend on for everyday needs. They shouldn't have to wait any longer."

Staff is being reallocated and additional payment cycles are running to ensure checks are issued promptly. Additional shifts will be added throughout the weekend as needed to address any backlog, Hynes said.

The state has been operating without spending authority since July 31, when a stop-gap, temporary budget expired. The fiscal year actually began July 1.

The Illinois Constitution and state law prohibit state checks from being issued without a budget or other expenditure authority, such as a court order. As a result, nearly 1,000 school districts throughout the state did not receive two expected payments this month totaling more than $340 million. State workers paychecks also were in doubt, but Hynes worked with the Attorney General and AFSCME to obtain a court order to ensure that didn't happen.

The Legislature finalized a fiscal 2008 budget and forwarded it to the Governor on Aug. 13, but the Governor delayed acting on the spending plan until today, holding up millions of dollars in payments that typically would be issued in August. In addition to school aid and worker's compensation payments, some of those payments included Law Enforcement training grants of $2.5 million, addiction prevention grants of $268,000, maternal and child health grants of $42,000 and highway and bridge construction and repair funds of $4.7 million.