Comptroller Rivals Clash on Approach to Bill Backlog

Democratic challenger Sheila Simon, the lieutenant governor, is trying to paint Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka as an old-style politician using clout to push various agencies to the head of the line. But Topinka says she has a better understanding of the intricacies of the office.

Topinka, a former state treasurer and Illinois GOP chairwoman, likens the job to being a "skunk at a picnic" and sports faux skunk slippers on occasion at the Capitol during her office's annual cheesecake day in May. Simon, currently lieutenant governor under Gov. Pat Quinn, sews her own clothes and plays banjo in an all-female bluegrass band called "Loose Gravel."

Illinois for several years has been delaying the payment of billions of dollars in bills for months at a time. This has caused schools, hospitals and social service agencies to borrow money, cut jobs and services and take on personal debt.

Topinka boasts that she has implemented a policy of prioritizing payments for not-for-profit and service agencies that serve the state's most vulnerable residents. She says there are "no favorites" but that she works with state agencies, lawmakers and vendors themselves to understand which situations are most dire.

Simon says the office should work to disclose exactly who it's paying when, and why.