 The cases are tiny pieces of the state's nearly $60 billion budget,
but they could provide leverage for critics who say government
spending cuts are needed before tax hikes proposed by Gov. Pat Quinn
are even considered.
Auditor General William Holland's office criticized the Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency for its handling of a $100,000 grant to
the now-defunct Amistad Commission. The money was to help schools
educate children about slavery and provide education materials, but
it wound up covering $18,480 in catering and $44,000 for four
speakers at a conference in 2008.
The commission, named after a 19th-century ship whose cargo of
slaves rebelled and were later freed, offered no detailed receipts
-- only a list of general expenses that totaled $100,000.
In its response to the audit, the Historic Preservation Agency
agreed it should require more details about such grants. Spokesman
Dave Blanchette said the Amistad Commission attracted 250 people to
the conference and provided instructional material.
But the audit found that the Historic Preservation Agency was among
the state agencies that suffered from budget cuts and lacked enough
employees to develop business plans for Lincoln-related historic
sites. The Department of Natural Resources also said it lacked money
to hire more people to speed up the job of entering information in a
law enforcement database.
Rep. Monique Davis, who sponsored legislation that created the
Amistad Commission in 2005, said it was "impossible" to believe the
commission spent $100,000 on the conference. But she defended the
conference, which she attended, as a valuable way to reach and
inspire educators.
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 "It isn't just where people are eating and having fun. Not at all,"
said Davis, D-Chicago.
A separate audit found that the Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation can't account for 52 computers and other
equipment worth about $170,000. The agency regulates banking,
insurance and various professions, including medical, accounting and
engineering.
State auditors also said the agency doesn't know how much
confidential information, if any, was on the missing computers.
The agency's response said the equipment may have been transferred
to another agency, but there was no record. The department agreed to
do a detailed inventory of equipment and improve its oversight.
[Associated Press; By CHRISTOPHER WILLS]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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redistributed.
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