Supreme Court grants extension to state in impasse case

Today the Supreme Court entered an order granting "in part" the State's motion for an extension to decide whether to appeal the appellate court’s finding that Bruce Rauner had wrongly broken off state contract negotiations based on a false claim of impasse. The Court granted an extension to March 29, a month shorter than the additional time requested by the Pritzker Administration.

Last week, AFSCME filed an objection to the motion to extend the appeal deadline.

“There’s no need for another extension or further review of the appellate court decision, which found that Bruce Rauner wrongly walked out on negotiations, falsely claiming the parties were at impasse,” Anders Lindall of AFSCME said.

Gov. Pritzker said during his campaign and since his election that he wants to resume negotiations with AFSCME as soon as possible and his administration says that’s still the case despite this extension request.

“Governor Pritzker’s priority is to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a contract with state workers that is fair to both the state’s dedicated workforce and fair to taxpayers,” spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement last week.

She stressed that the extension would not be a barrier to negotiations, stating that the request to the Supreme Court was only made, because “the administration wants time to think through all of the legal issues presented by the appellate court’s decision.”