“How are the opioid settlement funds working? I don’t think they’re working that well,” said state Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, chairperson of the House Mental Health and Addiction Committee. “It’s a boatload of money that our communities all across Illinois desperately need, and the state has been really slow to get the money out the door." At least ten different boards, state departments, and other stakeholders—including members of the public, though most Illinoisans don’t know that—play some role in deciding if and how funds are spent.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
File next to settlements received by the state of IL and never distributed to the aggrieved parties.