(Crain's) — Gov. Pat Quinn is announcing that Illinois faces an imminent shutdown of state highway projects, a spokesman for the governor confirmed Monday morning.

About 31,000 construction workers will be laid off starting June 17, according to a construction industry source.

Another 21,000 layoffs are anticipated from the shutdown of hundreds of other capital construction projects, ranging from high-speed rail to drinking water and wastewater projects, according to a memo prepared by the governor's office.

(Greg Hinz writes: No one is backing down as Gov. Quinn, House Speaker Mike Madigan, and Senate President John Cullerton escalate a battle that threatens billions of dollars in projects and thousands of jobs. Read Greg's column on the politics behind the looming shutdown.)

"These job losses are nearly equivalent to the number of new jobs created across the entire country in May," the memo noted.

Funding expires June 30 because the Illinois House and Senate did not agree on renewing the state's capital construction funding authority before the legislature adjourned last week.

At a news conference in Chicago Monday morning, Gov. Quinn said he would call the legislature back into a special session to deal with construction spending.

The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Assn. called Gov. Quinn's announcement today to halt road construction projects a "grievous mistake," that will have dangerous repercussions for countless families and businesses throughout the state.

"These road construction projects are exactly what will provide some stability to our economy," said Michael J. Sturino, President and CEO of the IRTBA. "To ask our workers, our families, our citizens to pay for the inability of our elected officials to come to a budget agreement is, frankly, appalling."

According to IRTBA, if the Illinois Department of Transportation is forced to shut its doors on all road construction projects in the state, due to the budget impasse, it will put about 31,000 people out of work and onto the unemployment rolls. The shutdown itself will cost approximately $30 million, and the daily cost to maintain the shutdown would be around $3 million. According to Mr. Sturino, the reverberations from a move like this would also negatively impact all Illinois motorists, too.

"State legislators need to understand that their bungling will be devastating to our businesses, thousands of workers and their families," he said. "I don't think it's unreasonable to ask the legislature to halt their own pay if they can't do their jobs and produce a budget."