SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — On her first day in office, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza instructed her staff to issue a directive prioritizing social services, education, and public safety payments ahead of employee bonuses.

Mendoza said she knows how hard state employees work, but she also knows there are group homes for people with disabilities; rape crisis centers; caregivers for the poor and elderly and other worthy programs likewise waiting to be paid by the state and it’s hard to justify leap-frogging millions of dollars in employee bonuses over those bills.

This fulfills a campaign pledge Mendoza made during her campaign for the office of comptroller.

The previous administration had argued they could not separate out employee bonuses from regular pay. Mendoza was able to implement the change in her first day.

This will allow the office to group those bonuses along with vendors, state legislators and top elected officials, including the Comptroller, whose payments are subject to delay due to insufficient funds because the state has not passed a balanced budget.