The bill now heads to House of Representatives for consideration.
According to Bomke, the need for the bill came after a series of
events, including a recent attempted move by the Department of
Aging. The agency wanted to move from a rent-free location to a
building that would cost the state $532,000 annually.
"The Department of Aging is just the most recent in a series of
misuse of state properties," Bomke said. "If this bill would have
been in place years ago, we would have not had to deal with the
debacle of Gov. Blagojevich moving the IDOT traffic safety division
to Harrisburg. We will be able to save a lot of stress by having
better oversight of state property leases."
Even though the two situations differ, the changes of location by
the traffic safety division and the Department of Aging would fall
under the review of the Procurement Policy Board.
"One reason the traffic safety division is still in Springfield
is because the former governor got arrested," Bomke said. "State
property should not be moved around to fit a political agenda of the
sitting governor."
[Text from file sent on behalf of
Sen.
Larry Bomke by Illinois
Senate Republican staff] |