State of Illinois not paying out on auto accident claims

Illinois Policy Institute reports:

Been in an accident with a state-owned vehicle and not at fault? Waiting for the state to pony up?

Keep waiting.

The state, which is self-insured, has about 200 claims worth about $560,000 on hold, said Meredith Krantz, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, or CMS.

Those claims, filed since July 1, aren’t being paid because there’s no state budget.

One Springfield lawyer said he found the situation “pathetic.”

“The way I take this: If a state employee runs into your car and damages a fender or a bumper or whatever, the state isn’t paying that now,” said attorney Jim Ackerman, whose work includes auto liability cases.

“And if they run over your mother and kill her, the state isn’t going to pay that for quite some time,” he said.

With no appropriation passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, CMS does not have the authority to make payments on auto accident claims.

Democracy , the God that really failed. Progressives are sure that the state can handle even more responsibilities! For you rookies out there: do you really want to be a creditor of the state of Illinois? Feel good about your government pension check you planned on receiving? Don't worry the check is in the mail. No word yet on this story from mainstream political scientists who focus on market failure.