CHICAGO - The state will borrow $1 million from a veterans health insurance program to compensate 22 families of fallen soldiers and Marines that have been waiting for death benefits, officials said Sunday.

Under the 2004 Line of Duty Compensation Act, families of Illinois troops killed while on active duty are entitled to about $277,000 from the state, the same benefit granted to those of police officers and firefighters who die on the job.

Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan have been higher than expected, overwhelming the fund, state officials have said. So far, Illinois has paid more than $27 million in death benefits to 102 troops' families.

Four families that have been waiting the longest will get the full benefit, Quinn and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs director Tammy Duckworth said at a news conference Sunday.

Each remaining family will get $50,000, borrowed from the Veterans Care health insurance program, Duckworth said.

"We are taking immediate action to help these 22 families and as this war continues, we will be taking steps to address the needs of the growing number of families of our fallen heroes," Duckworth said. "We are determined to keep our commitment to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms."

A bill to inject $5 million into the fund did not pass the Legislature last year, and a sponsor for a similar bill this spring has not yet been found.

The money borrowed from the Veterans Care program will be returned when the Legislature approves the extra money, officials said.

Once the funding comes through, the Court of Claims will give the families the rest of the money, with the first funding going to the families who have waited the longest.

"Both the governor and I have a commitment to these deserving families in their time of great financial and emotional need that we are going to keep," said Duckworth, an Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs in combat in Iraq.