Illinois Offers $100 Million In Loans To Federal Workers

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois state officials are offering $100 million in low-interest or interest-free loans to federal workers going without paychecks during a record 33-day government shutdown.

Gov. JB Pritzker and Treasurer Michael Frerichs told a state Capitol news conference Wednesday that the treasury's linked-deposit program would put money in local banks that agree to offer the loans .

Federal workers are going without paychecks because of the shutdown. Republican President Donald Trump and Capitol Hill Democrats are at odds over Trump's request for a $5.7 billion U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Pritzker says he is also exploring paying unemployment benefits to thousands of workers who have to report to work despite not receiving a paycheck.

The Democratic governors of Michigan, New York and Washington asked the administration last week for permission to do that.

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