If you have access to Wednesday’s column by the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Petrella, be sure to read it.
“Left unmentioned as lawmakers were approving the budget,” Petrella wrote, “was the creation of a state fund that gives Gov. J.B. Pritzker authority to spend billions of dollars from the federal aid without first getting approval from lawmakers.
”The Illinois legislature’s Democratic majority outlined less than $3 billion in spending in the coming year from a massive infusion of federal coronavirus relief money,” says the column. The state is in the process of receiving $8.1 billion from the federal government, supposedly for pandemic relief.
Where’s the difference going? About $3.6 billion was marked to be budgeted out over the next three years, but that still leaves “at least another $2 billion for a special fund that was created for Pritzker to spend without an appropriation or any legislative input,” as Petrella wrote.
Now that the special fund has come to light, Republicans are now objecting. Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) has introduced a bill to require Pritzker to inform legislative leaders in both parties before he spends money from the special fund and ultimately get approval from lawmakers for any outlay.
The Pritzker Administration says not to worry. “Allowing the governor to tap into the money without an appropriation by lawmakers ensured ‘flexibility for the state to adapt to the rules as understanding of them evolved over the course of the year,’” Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh told Petrella.
But since lengthy, complex budgets get introduced in Springfield just hours before voting, “you don’t see this kind of thing,” Demmer said. “And it turns out, they create this fund that really gives the governor authority to make multibillion-dollar decisions without any notification or input from the General Assembly.”
This was indeed kept mighty quiet. Salute to Petrella for bringing it to light.
-Mark Glennon
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Of course he can spend with no legislative oversight. The legislators don’t want anything to do with this. They’re fingerprints would be all over the spending. When the Democrats end up in the dustbin, nobody will know anything! They’re preparing to hide.
How much will find it’s way into Obama’s ‘Temple of Doom’ I wonder?
Pritzker is a coward
I have no doubt he’s a coward. However my beef is with the GA. Being elected does come with expectations! They simply laugh at us. We pay them to screw us!
Half of all races are uncontested. Are you really ‘elected’ when you have no opponent? Putin and Maduro would be impressed.
Pritzker is morally broke
Just a blatant action, I don’t believe it will change anything, just let him fritter the money away obviously, rather than hiding the expenditures. Maybe, we’ll buy him a house next to Nancy Peloses new one in Flordia!.
It seems as if states can pile up unlimited debts and no bad things will happen.
States are, by definition, too big to fail.
Until they do.
Well, somebody had to take Madigans place. Corruption abhors a vacuum.
Long live King Fatbody!!
Beyond this stunt, several legislative rules obviously need to be changed at the Federal and state level, including the amount of time for legislators and the public to review a bill prior to legislators voting on the bill.
That’s like giving a loaded gun to a 3 year-old.
Legislative cowardice.
How hard it will be for the governor to resist blowing this pile of cash on yet more wasteful spending while the state’s debts continue to grow and grow. I demand that he voluntarily establishes limits with GA approvals. Any takers on that bet?
Imagine the reaction if Rauner had a similar $2B slush fund.
If that happened it would have been Rauners wife’s slush fund, the boss.