* Center Square…

From the $1.9 trillion spending plan the Senate passed, federal taxpayers are poised to send the state of Illinois $7.5 billion for the state budget.

That’s not enough to cover the state’s bill backlog.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said on social media she and Gov. J.B. Pritzker agreed that federal dollars the state is expected to get should be prioritized to pay back recently borrowed federal funds.

The state has borrowed about $3 billion from federal programs during the pandemic and is slated to pay back the borrowing over several years. […]

But that doesn’t leave enough to cover backlogged bills that as of Monday was in excess of $5.8 billion for vendor services already rendered.

The state reaches a normal 4-week payment cycle once the backlog is reduced to around $3 billion. So, yes, there’s enough money to pay the bills and end what is actually the backlog and even provide a bit of a cushion.

Also, to show you how things can fluctuate, the comptroller’s site has the current backlog at $5.6 billion.

…Adding… I assume that a chunk of that federal money will be churned through federal matching accounts, like Medicaid, which will produce even more revenue. So, it’s tough to say how much that will all add up to when all is said and done.