Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a motion Thursday to stop the payment of state workers’ salaries until Gov. Bruce Rauner and state legislators can approve a spending plan to end the budget impasse.

Eastern President David Glassman said this motion would not affect state workers at the university.

“Everybody who works here is a state employee, but not in the same realm as the other state employees,” he said.

Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs, said the university has a budget and local money and all of that is taken care of.

“Our people are not paid by Springfield; they’re paid here locally,” he said.

McCann said Eastern has its own money from tuition and appropriations and Glassman said it looks like the university will have a balanced budget this year.

Meanwhile, the state has gone without a full budget since July 1,2015.

The motion filed by Madigan asked the St. County Circuit Court to dissolve a preliminary injunction allowing state workers to be paid during the budget stalemate by Feb.28, according to the Associated Press.

It has been criticized by Rauner, who said Madigan is attempting to “cause a crisis” and shut the government down.

However, the AP reports that Illinois comptroller Susana Mendoza blamed Rauner for the budget impasse in a statement, saying state workers would not be threatened with no salaries if he had proposed a balanced budget in previous years.

Glassman called the motion an “interesting development,” though he said he is not sure what the outcome of it will be.

“It certainly may have the effect of getting things to speed up toward a budget being passed from the state,” he said.

Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]