Will the lights stay on? State of Illinois owes $3.5 million in past-due electricity bills
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The state of Illinois is again racking up unpaid utility bills for its Springfield offices.
City Water, Light and Power spokeswoman Amber Sabin says Illinois owes about $3.5 million in past-due payments.
The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports that the state was as much as $12 million behind on its electricity and water bills last year.
The company sent a letter threatening to shut off services last July before the state caught up with the help of a temporary spending plan approved in June.
Sabin says the state's payments began lagging again this March.
The state has gone nearly two years without a full budget and Illinois' total bill backlog sits at $14.4 billion.
Lawmakers have yet to reach a budget agreement with less than two weeks remaining in the current session.