Report says Illinois is disclosing CARES Act spending
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[December 23, 2021]
By Kevin Bessler
(The Center Square) – A
report shows that Illinois is disclosing online how the state is
spending federal pandemic assistance funding.
GoodJobsFirst.org reports Illinois is one of six states in the country
providing a detailed website to show where the billions of dollars are
going. The other states providing transparency on CARES Act spending
include Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wyoming.
“One of the things I really like about Illinois was because it has
pretty detailed spending descriptions,” said research analyst Katie
Furtado. “There are a lot of states that just say we spent $3,500 on
sewer. OK, what does that mean?”
While most states disclose some information on
Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) spending, like awardee names and
allocations to state agencies and programs, the report found their
websites often lack details on how awardees, in turn, spent their funds.
Twenty-seven states fall into this category. Nine other states’ websites
include even less information, and eight states plus the District of
Columbia don’t have a website at all.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza feels it is important to change the
way some Illinoisans view their state government.
“The main reason for me wanting to do this is I believe that
transparency is the road to restoring trust in government and these are
people’s taxpayer dollars and they deserve to know how they are being
spent,” Mendoza said.
The state’s website was recently featured in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette.
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Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza speaks to the media in the state
Capitol on November 8, 2017.
Image courtesy of BlueRoomStream
"Ideally, states would follow the practice of Illinois Comptroller
Susana Mendoza. She posts information on the items purchased, the
vendor, the date of the purchase and the cost.”
The report did not evaluate how the money was being spent, but some
have questioned Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s power on how to dole out
billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief money. His team said
federal rules allow the governor to tap into the Illinois American
Rescue Plan funds without an appropriation from the General
Assembly. During budget talks last spring, Democrats in control in
Springfield created a fund to give the governor carte blanche on how
to spend the money.
The GoodJobsFirst report recommends a way for some states to improve
disclosure methods moving forward.
Governments receiving CRF and other federal money
should be required to post their quarterly reports to the U.S.
Treasury. Since states are already collecting this information to
satisfy reporting requirements, they should provide this information
on their own sites. The quarterly reports that states submit to the
Treasury include the expenditure data available on websites and much
more.
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