The state of Illinois' fiscal crisis has forced social service agencies to the brink; many are now sending hardship letters to the comptroller's office, literally begging to get paid. The state is currently behind roughly $4.6 billion in payments. "Every day is a triage situation here," a spokeswoman for the comptroller's office told the Tribune.

Meanwhile, the candidates seeking to be elected the next comptroller continue to differ on how they would prioritize making back payments. Democratic nominee David Miller says he'd examine the backlog to see if an agency was near closure or provided a unique service to a region, and move them up the stack. Republican Judy Baar Topinka derides this as "social engineering."