SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. Pat Quinn is crowing that Illinois’ pile of overdue bills has dropped to $3.9 billion.

The Democrat said Monday it’s the lowest since he took office in 2009. It topped out in 2010 at $9.9 billion.

But the governor’s office does not count health care bills until they’re past due. Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, a Republican, includes Medicaid invoices as soon as the state is billed. That takes the total backlog to $4.4 billion. That’s closer to the figure Topinka released last week of $4.6 billion.

Quinn says his “tough decisions” helped draw down the backlog. He says the state “is in a stronger financial position than we were five years ago and we have more work to do.”

The governor’s office says the typical backlog — based on a 30-day billing standard — is about $2.2 billion.

http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/budget/Documents/Bill_Backlog_Presentation_7.14.14.pdf

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