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The DCEO bone is connected to the EPA bone…
By AFP | July 29, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the day, like so many others, comes to us from the FIF fund. In 2006, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity issued a $200,000 grant to…the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Why, you might ask, is one state department issuing a grant to another? Well, so that the Illinois EPA can use that money to dish out a grant for a special project (read “member initiative”).
You see, the money used to fund this project came from a slush fund - the Fund for Illinois’ Future - that was established during Illinois’ last Great Capital Campaign, Illinois FIRST (which George Ryan thought would be his lasting legacy). The Fund for Illinois’ future was established explicitly as a pork barrel, and it was filled to the brim with cash. Blagojevich took office promising to end “business as usual.” Far from dismantling the Ryan Era pork apparatus, he allowed it to flourish, and lawmakers continued to pour money into the Fund for Illinois’ Future (the so-called FIF fund), which DCEO is in charge of managing. Since all FIF fund pork must run first through DCEO, taxpayers must cut through one more layer of bureaucracy in order to see how their money is being spent.
In the case at hand, when taxpayers ask DCEO how their $200,000 was spent, DCEO will provide only the details abouts its agreement with Illinois EPA - which says only that the EPA will use the money for “Rochelle” (presumably Rochelle, Illinois - whatever that means).
In order to see in detail how that money is spent, taxpayers must then file a FOIA request with the Illinois EPA, which is precisely what the Pork Report will do.
Check back for future details.
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