URBANA, Ill. (AP) – The University of Illinois is spending a pool of easily accessible cash to pay its overdue bills while it waits for the state to come through with $475 million in overdue appropriations.

Doug Beckmann is the university’s senior associate vice president for business and finance. He says the university is using the $800 million to whittle away at $3.8 billion in bills.

Beckmann says the money is going quickly. If the state doesn’t come through soon, he says the university will have to tap other reserves by May.

The university and other government-dependent institutions are waiting on billions of dollars in money from the state. Illinois’ government is behind on those payments because of a $13 billion budget deficit.