CHICAGO (AP) - Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says layoffs of county workers and program cuts are possible because the state of Illinois doesn’t have a budget.
Preckwinkle said Monday that as of Jan. 31 the state owes Cook County about $66 million. Preckwinkle said the county “can’t continue to carry the state because we don’t have the cash reserves to do it.”
The Chicago Democrat said she’s particularly worried about $19 million that the county receives for child support enforcement and nearly $2 million it gets for an offender diversion program. Preckwinkle said she’ll have to reconsider those programs if the state doesn’t pass a budget.
GOP Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrats in the state Legislature have been at a state budget stalemate since last summer.
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