SPRINGFIELD – With Illinois' backlog of unpaid bills reaching $8.5 billion, the state's fiscal officer announced Tuesday her office will give precedence to paying providers of services for the developmentally disabled.

The order from Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka came a day after group homes and other agencies for the developmentally disabled were notified by the state Department of Human Services that there wasn't enough money in the current budget to pay them for their services this year.

That discouraging letter, dated Monday, told providers they wouldn't be paid for one month of services this fiscal year and that deferred payments would come out of next year's budget. Even then, the money would be subject to ongoing payment delays, according to the letter, first reported by The (Champaign) News-Gazette.