Gov. Pat Quinn announced today that Illinois is receiving $1.4 billion in recovery funding.

The United States Department of Education approved an application from the state, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In a press release Quinn said schools across the state will receive some of these funds within days.

“With help from the General Assembly, the State of Illinois is acting quickly to take advantage of every federal Recovery dollar available to us,” Quinn said in the press release.

The State House of Representatives passed legislation earlier this month to allow the state to apply for and access this recovery funding. According to the release Illinois is going to use over $1 billion of the money during the current fiscal year in order to avoid funding cuts for schools.

Illinois plans on receiving over $2 billion in funds, including the money it will be receiving shortly, in a national effort to stabilize states’ economies.