AUGUSTA, Maine — Attorneys who represented indigent defendants will get paid this month thanks to Gov. Paul LePage who announced Thursday that he was transferring $913,890 to the Maine Commission for Indigent Legal Services to cover budget shortfalls.

Without this action, attorneys who represent Mainers who cannot to hire a lawyer would have gone five weeks without getting paid for legal services provided, according to the press release.

“We can no longer afford to be a government that delays payments to those who provide services to Maine people,” the governor said Thursday in a press release issued by the his office. “Indigent legal services are important as are our hospitals and medical providers. Paying our bills is a priority of my administration.”

“The governor’s action to cover the commission’s shortfall is great and welcome news,” Indigent Services Commission Chairman Ron Schneider. “I want to thank the governor for his support and his recognition of the value and importance of the work done by assigned counsel. This money means a great deal to the small business people who provide an essential and constitutionally-required service for the state.”

Monday, LePage authorized the transfer of $164,800 in unallocated funds from the State’s Contingency Account, according to a press release. The State Contingency Fund is a General Fund Program established for use by the governor as he or she deems it necessary.

Another $750,000 was transferred Tuesday from projected personnel services balances in Maine Revenue Service for the fiscal year that ends June 30, the release said. According to state law, the governor may access additional funds from personnel services balances if the funds remaining in the State Contingent Account are not sufficient.

The budget shortfall for the commission was the result of a rise in the cost of legal services rendered as well as a higher-than-projected number of cases, the release said.