Despite the absence of a state budget, LT has not yet been affected by the budget crisis that continues to cause issues at public schools and colleges across the state.

“The state has continued to make the payments to [LT] that they otherwise would have [paid], with or without the budget,” Director of Business Services Brian Stachacz said. “We’ve seen no great impact yet.”

Beginning with fiscal year (FY) 2016, which began on July 1, 2015, Illinois was unable to pass a budget—an issue that has extended to FY 2017. The absence of a budget has resulted in financial issues at public institutions all over the state, most notably with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign planning staff reductions as of April, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In an effort to temporarily solve the crisis, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed several six-month stopgap budget bills, according to ABC7 Chicago. The series of bills would make sure that schools would open in the fall, and would likewise fund state services for the next six months. The stopgap budget is important to downstate rural schools as well as Chicago Public Schools, as they receive a majority of funding from the Illinois state government, LT principal Dr. Brian Waterman said.

“We agreed to a couple hundred million dollars more for all schools, not just Chicago,” Rauner said in an interview with Jim Mertens, a reporter for News Channel 8 in Moline. “That’s a great step.”

In the case that a budget was decided upon and major cuts were made to school districts, it would be an issue in the future rather than an immediate dilemma, as LT has the resources to continue operating at current standards, Stachacz said.

“[LT] is fortunate to be in an area where so many of the resources come from local sources,” Waterman said. “We’re able to maintain our programs and services we provide to students even in the current state budget situation.”