* AP…

A U.S. judge has cited Illinois’ efforts in recent days to make court-ordered payments to social-service providers in deciding not to hold the state in contempt.

Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled at a Tuesday hearing in Chicago focused on services for the disabled. Coleman raised the prospect of a contempt finding last week after Illinois missed a deadline for certain payments as the state budget standoff continues.

A plaintiffs’ attorney, Barry Taylor, told Coleman that Illinois is now “making a good-faith effort.” But he and other attorneys also said court pressure had worked.

Coleman says she’ll entertain another contempt motion if the state falters again on payments.

* Sun-Times…

While there are ongoing budget issues facing the state, Coleman said she wasn’t getting in the middle of it. “This court is not going to allow political wrangling,” affect her decisions, she said.

Still, Coleman tweaked the comptroller’s office for not flagging a cash-flow issue when it failed to comply with her order to pay services for the severely developmentally disabled by Aug. 21.

“That was disturbing to the court,” she said.

* Tribune…

On Tuesday, Coleman scolded the state for previously failing “to explain the difficulty they were having in a timely way,” saying the legal wrangling over the payments “cost a lot of time, effort, trees.”

Coleman said she was satisfied that “every attempt has been made to try to cooperate,” and instructed the two sides to draft an order that would allow a court monitor to keep track of the payments to make sure the state complies with her order.

…Adding… From Ed McManus…

Attorneys for the state and lawyers representing Illinois residents with developmental disabilities finally made peace today in federal court in Chicago.

The disability lawyers had proposed that state officials be held in contempt of court for failing to make payments to provider agencies. But the state now says it is making the payments, and the contempt idea has been dropped.

Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman indicated she was upset with remarks by Comptroller Leslie Munger that she doesn’t like being governed by a court. Coleman said Munger needs to realize that she must comply with federal court consent decrees–specifically the Ligas decree, which protects the rights of people with developmental disabilities. An attorney for Munger quickly assured Coleman that Munger “never intended to be critical of your role.”

Ed McManus, a Wilmette-based consultant who represents many of the providers, said his agencies are breathing a sigh of relief. “Most of them have now been paid or apparently are about to be paid, and that’s great. But it’s really inexcusable that the state administration dragged its feet for all this time–since July 1–while these providers were scraping by, cutting their employees’ hours, and paying interest to banks to borrow money the state should have been paying them. The State of Illinois needs to wake up and start doing much better in providing care to our most vulnerable residents.”

Attorney Barry Taylor of Equip for Equality, representing the plaintiffs in the Ligas case, said it has now been agreed that the court-appointed monitor in the case, Ronnie Cohn, will act as a conduit for any providers that still have issues. The agencies were instructed to contact her with problems, Taylor said, and she will work with the state to correct them.

Taylor expressed concern about an announcement the Department of Human Services made last week that it is no longer making expedited payments to the smaller providers. Judge Coleman stressed that she has previously ordered that the expedited payment process be continued.

The state said all payments to ICFDDs for FY15 were processed and sent to the comptroller last night, so those payments should be made soon.

…Adding More… From the comptroller…

Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger released the following statement Tuesday in response to a Federal Court’s denial of a motion to hold the state in contempt of court over payments tied to the Ligas Consent Decree impacting services for people with developmental disabilities:

“I am grateful to the Court for recognizing that our office has done, and will continue to do, everything in its power to ensure that the state’s budget shortfall does not impact payment for services for people with developmental disabilities.

“Since being sworn into office eight months ago, I have made payments for those serving our most vulnerable my top priority. Long before I assumed public office, I spent years volunteering for an organization serving the intellectually and developmentally disabled - and I saw firsthand the pain that is caused when the state does not meet its obligations in a timely fashion. As the state’s Chief Fiscal Officer, I have made it my mission to ensure that other organizations do not face similar hardship.

“I have traveled the state meeting with nonprofit and social service providers in recent months, and whether I’m in Rockford or East St. Louis, the message is the same: to truly bring relief to those serving our most vulnerable, Illinois must pass a balanced budget.”