Springfield, IL  (AP)   The Illinois Supreme Court has declared that former Gov. Pat Quinn was correct in 2011 when he denied state workers a promised 2 percent pay raise because lawmakers had not appropriated the money.
The court determined on a 6-1 vote that the state’s contract with 30,000 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees doesn’t trump state law requiring the General Assembly to authorize spending. Quinn withheld $75 million owed under the AFSCME contract in July 2011 because the budget lawmakers sent him did not have an appropriation to cover the 2 percent pay raise union members were due.

An arbitrator ruled in favor of the union and circuit and appellate courts upheld that decision.
Some of the workers have been paid after subsequent negotiations and legislative action.