SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The union that represents most Illinois state workers is demonstrating outside dozens of state lawmakers’ offices (including a handful in the Metro East) in hopes of pressuring them into supporting Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed income tax hike when they return to Springfield Tuesday.

The problem is, even Quinn isn’t pushing that idea at the moment. He has said he’s going to shelve it until the Legislature convenes in the fall. This week’s session, then, will likely be a quick-and-easy approval of a partial state budget designed to allow Illinois to continue paying its bills through November.

That hasn’t dissuaded the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) from launching its events today at about 40 local offices of lawmakers who haven’t been on board with the tax hike idea. AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall told the Post-Dispatch this morning that a few dozen union workers and other human services employees are expected at each of the offices.

“They’ll be demonstrating with signs, and trying to see (the lawmakers) to deliver the message in person,” said Lindall. “We want to make it very clear that we want see these folks go back to the Capital Tuesday and do the right thing.”

Quinn wants to temporarily raise the state’s 3 percent income tax rate to 4.5 percent for two years, to address an estimated $9 billion budget deficit. He has previously vowed to go to the mat with hesitant legislators to get the thing approved, much to the delight of AFSCME, which sees the tax hike as a way to avoid further worker layoffs.

But Quinn, bowing to what is looking increasingly like unalterable political reality, effectively threw in the towel on the issue last week, announcing another round of layoffs and saying for the first time that he’s open a partial budget. He later indicated he will stop hounding lawmakers for the tax hike, for now, but that it will come back up in the fall.

The AFSCME demonstrations will include three in the Metro East, all at 3:45 today, outside the offices of Democratic state reps Tom Holbrook, (9200 W. Main, Belleville); Dan Beiser (528 Henry St., Alton); and Jay Hoffman (126 Vandalia, Collinsville).