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Auditor general questions Blagojevich administration spending
Tensions mounted during a Legislative Audit Commission meeting
Thursday as Auditor General William Holland confronted Illinois
Department of Transportation officials about $700,000 in
questionable expenses and other incidents of mismanagement.
The Legislative Audit Commission met in Springfield to review the
status of audits conducted on the Illinois Department of
Transportation, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity,
and Central Management Services.
The Department of Transportation was under scrutiny for several
questionable decisions, including expenditures related to the
promotion of reconstruction work being done to the Dan Ryan
Expressway in the Chicago region. The audit refers to some $25,000
in state expenses to pay for a parade float and temporary tattoos.
Holland also questioned how contracts were awarded, as 40 percent
of the contracts under review did not go to the lowest bidders and
were not publicly disclosed. The auditor general has turned over his
findings to the attorney general and the state's inspector general
for review.
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 Overspending threatens other projects; renewed calls for contract
reforms
The controversy surrounding the Department of Transportation
intensified as a result of recent media reports highlighting cost
overruns for projects on the Dan Ryan Expressway. According to
recent reports, the cost for the project is approaching $1 billion,
which is nearly twice the original $550 million price tag.
Department officials have admitted that the cost overruns will
affect the ability of the state to complete other transportation
projects across the state. Senate Republicans are fearful that
transportation projects in the suburbs and downstate Illinois will
not be funded as a result of the department's mismanagement. The
Republicans are again calling for contract reforms they introduced
in the Senate in the spring of 2005.
"The Responsible Public Contracting Act" is a comprehensive
package of legislation that would stop the administration's abuse of
"sole source" and "emergency" exemptions to bidding requirements;
encourage more competition on state contracts by strengthening
bidding practices; require greater public disclosure on contractors
and their related businesses, key executives and lobbyists; force
timely public notices of contracts and conflict of interest waivers;
and give the state comptroller and treasurer the power to void
illegal contracts.
The Democratic-controlled Legislature has not allowed these
proposals to move forward.
[Column from
Sen. Bill Brady] |
