The number of human service providers on the verge of closing their doors because of delayed state payments keeps growing. With the backlog in Illinois now stretching back as far as six months and topping $4.4 billion, these agencies -- including senior centers and child welfare agencies and those caring for the disabled -- are quickly running out of options. "I'm worried that we're racing toward a cliff at 90 mph in Illinois," Lynn Jarman director of a Belleville-based agency that serves the developmentally disabled told the Tribune, "and the people who are going to bear the brunt ... will be the most vulnerable."

In an effort to avert a total collapse of the state's safety net, Don Moss of the Illinois Human Services Coalition (IHSC), along with some of the state's non-profit heavyweights, appealed to Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes yesterday to "put politics aside, think about people needing human services in this state" and approve some short-term borrowing to tide them over.  Watch:

The only cash-flow borrowing proposal currently on the table is Quinn's, which has been subject to plenty of scrutiny. Earlier this month, he called for taking out a $500 million loan.  Among the most consistent criticisms is that the governor has yet to make a clear case for how the state would pay off the debt when it comes due next June. But as Moss points out, the money could be stretched much farther because half of the loan ($250 million) would be committed to the Medicaid trust fund to cover medical bills. In turn, that would net roughly $600 million worth of federal reimbursements that could be used to cover additional payments.

According to the Pantagraph's Kurt Erickson, Hynes still isn't budging. More from his report:

At an event in Springfield on Thursday, Hynes said he hasn't changed his mind. He said the Quinn's proposal to borrow $500 million wouldn't come close to paying all of the state's unpaid bills.

"The borrowing proposal that was put forward really doesn't solve the problem," Hynes said. "It doesn't solve the cash-flow problem; it doesn't solve the underlying budget problem. In fact, it gives false hope to providers who are waiting to be paid."

Of course, another bridge loan is no substitute for a long-term solution, Moss concedes. But as Illinois Issues' Jamey Dunn reports, the backlog has become so severe that the comptroller’s office is fielding "several thousand calls a week" from increasingly desperate providers whose private donations are down and lines of credit exhausted. Meanwhile, it'll be months before the General Assembly takes up Sen. James Meeks' HB 174 or any other tax reform proposal that aimed at generating adequate revenue. "We can't wait that long" Moss said. "We can't wait to see the private system collapse in order to garner the votes for what ever needs to be done to increase the revenue."