SPRINGFIELD - Gov. Rod Blagojevich, lawmakers and scores of top state officials received an added chunk of change in their paychecks this week.

As part of an earlier budget bill signed by the governor, lump-sum checks ranging from about $2,000 to more than $7,000 were added to their bank accounts.

The amounts made up for pay raises approved earlier in the year that couldn't be paid out by the state comptroller until the governor took action.

Officials surveyed Friday said they would either keep the money or contribute some of it to various charitable organizations.

"I'm giving a good portion of mine to the Missionaries of the Poor," said state Rep. Bill Mitchell, a Forsyth Republican who has donated money to the Catholic charity in the past.

State Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, said he and his wife discussed the windfall and decided to keep the cash, which amounted to $3,182 before taxes. He said it would help cover some of the expenses that have built up over his years as a legislator.

"I'm paying bills," Bost said Friday.

And, state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who received a check worth nearly $3,500 before taxes, said he was planning to keep the money, despite having voted against the pay raise.

"It's been a long summer of going back and forth to Springfield," said Brady, adding that some could go to charity.

The added cash is part of a 9.6 percent pay increase Blagojevich signed into law last month. It was retroactive to January.

He also approved another 3.5 percent pay raise when he recently signed the fiscal year 2008 budget into law.

The moves bumped the governor's pay to $171,000. Base pay for lawmakers rose from $57,619 to $65,393.

It is the first raise for lawmakers and the governor since 2001.

The pay increases come against the backdrop of intense fighting over state finances that led Blagojevich to cut cost-of-living increases for some social service agencies.

For example, while Blagojevich last week received a lump-sum check worth $7,200 before taxes, he also reduced funding that would have given some of the state's lowest-paid workers a 2.5 percent raise.

Tony Paulauski, director of the ARC of Illinois, which lobbies on behalf of people with developmental disabilities, said the cut in cost-of-living increases will mean low-paid workers won't see any raises for at least another month.

Paulauski said the low pay - about $8 an hour - and lack of increases make it hard for local social service agencies to keep good workers.

"This is a critical support for people with disabilities," Paulauski said of the money Blagojevich cut out of the budget.

Although many lawmakers opposed the pay increases, they said Friday that they planned to keep them.

State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said he's using his money - more than $2,700 before taxes - to pay down the mortgage on his district office in Pontiac. He doesn't charge the state for rent on the facility.

State Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, said he discussed the issue with his wife and they decided to contribute his raise worth $3,182 before taxes to charities that they support.

State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, said he's contributed previous pay raises to charity. "I imagine I'll do the same with this," he said.

The raises weren't limited to elected state officials. Agency directors received lump sum checks, too.

For example, Illinois Department of Corrections Director Roger Walker received a lump sum of $5,873 before taxes. Department of Agriculture Director Chuck Hartke's amount was $3,162. Jack Lavin, director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity received a pre-tax lump worth $3,377.

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State salaries

Following are new base salary levels for statewide officers and lawmakers:

Governor: $171,000

Lieutenant governor: $130,800

Secretary of state: $150,900

Attorney general: $150,900

Comptroller: $130,800

Treasurer: $130,800

State senator: $65,353

State representative: $65,353