OK. We’ll sue you then.
By AFP | July 31, 2008
Readers of the Pork Report might remember this post from February:
Since the launch of our Mystery Pork Tour, the Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity has worked to uncover the past pork projects of Illinois lawmakers. The process has been a long one, with lawmakers and bureaucrats often opposing taxpayer attempts to uncover items of public record (state contracts, memoranda of understanding, and other records of member initiatives.
One of the more frustrating aspects of our investigations has been the refusal of Senate President Emil Jones to turn over any records regarding the pork barrel projects awarded to members of his Senate Democrat caucus. Responses to Freedom of Act requests have indicated that the Senate President has no knowledge and no records of member initiatives or memoranda of understanding. AFP-Illinois is skeptical of such responses.
So, along with our partners Judicial Watch, we are filing a Freedom of Information Act request to numerous state agencies, with a clear definition of what we mean by “member initiative.” If state bureaucrats and politicians again prove unresponsive to our request, at least we will know that they are not hiding behind semantic nuances.
In response to our FOIA request, Senate President Emil Jones denied have any records of earmarks, and he also added that even if he did have such records, taxpayers aren’t entitled to see them. Put simply, we disagreed, and now our friends at Judicial Watch are taking our fight to the courts.
Here is a press release issued today by the office of AFP Illinois:
The Illinois Chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP-IL) earlier today joined Washington D.C.-based Judicial Watch in its announcement that it had filed a lawsuit in Sangamon County against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones for violations to state regulations concerning disclosure of government documents.
The lawsuit was filed after repeated attempts by Judicial Watch to force the governor and President Jones to disclose how lump-sum member initiative funds were being spent. Judicial Watch and AFP-IL, a grassroots organization committed to limited government and free-market principles, made those attempts through the auspices of Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
“Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois Senate President Emil Jones needs to come clean now about any side deals they made to fund pork barrel projects,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Their attempts to stonewall the release of these documents demonstrate a shocking lack of respect for both Illinois taxpayers and the rule of law.”
According to Calomino, this lawsuit has the primary goal of uncovering pork-barrel projects that have been kept secret by the governor and senate president. Recent published reports have exposed a number of embarrassing and questionable initiatives where little or no oversight has resulted in a waste of taxpayer resources.
“For years, the governor and Senate President Emil Jones have been conducting a cynical game of hide & seek with taxpayers’ funds,” said AFP-IL State Director Joe Calomino. “Instead of following the law which clearly states that requests for information from our state government must be fulfilled, the governor and Senator Jones apparently think they are above the law and simply do not need to comply. We intend to prove them wrong.”
“No matter what the outcome of this lawsuit may bring, Illinois needs stronger disclosure laws that would force lawmakers to vote on projects before they become reality,” Calomino stated. “AFP-IL worked with the General Assembly this year to pass such a law. While it passed the House unanimously, the Senate did not see fit to call it for a vote.”
According to Calomino, AFP-IL will continue its quest to force open and transparent government.
“Many lawmakers agree with us that their actions must be open to review and accountability measures,” Calomino said. “It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to force officials elected by the people of this state to do the right thing.”
Check back with the Pork Report for updates on this case, and for full coverage of AFP’s attempt to shine light on Illinois’ corrupt system of patronage and pork.
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More slushy pork
By AFP | July 31, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day is the last in our series of “interagency grant agreements,” which were used to dole out (slush) Fund for Illinois’ Future grants. In 2005, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity awarded $816,781 to the Capital Development Board so that CDB could in turn use those funds for pork projects.
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More lump pork: trolley ride, interactive water, etc.
By AFP | July 30, 2008
Yesterday and Friday, our Pork Projects of the Day were grants given to state agencies from DCEO (another state agency). The money used in those grants was in turn used to fund pork projects. Today’s Pork Project of the day is another one of those interagency grants. In 2006, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity awarded a $6,446,977.70 grant to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources so that DNR could award grants for things such as “the installation of interactive water features” and a “trolley ride.”
Acquiring further details of these projects will require the Pork Report to file FOIA requests with DNR, which we’re now doing.
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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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IDOT’s pork bundle
By AFP | July 25, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day isn’t a project per se, but a bundle of projects paid for through an “inter-agency grant.” In 2006, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity passed through more than $2 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which IDOT in turn used on pork projects. AFP-Illinois is filing a FOIA request with IDOT to acquire the executed grant agreements for each of the projects listed here.
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Rickeee Hendon deserves your money, taxpayers
By AFP | July 24, 2008
Here’s our Rickey Hendon quote for today:
According to interviews with recipients, Hendon sponsored 44 of the 48 grants reviewed by the Tribune. He said he works hard in Springfield rounding up votes for Blagojevich and Senate Democrats. “I deserve more money,” he said. “I fall on all the swords down there.”
Of the 44 grants Hendon awarded, at least 21 went to people who campaigned for him or donated to his re-election efforts, the Tribune found. Hendon said he wasn’t rewarding campaign workers; they just happened to apply.
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Obama, Pfleger, and Pork
By AFP | July 24, 2008
Lost amidst the brouhaha around Rickey Hendon’s after-school pork racket was this must-read story from the Chicago Sun Times:
Back when Barack Obama was a state senator, the Illinois Legislature offered this perk: You get elected, you get to give out some money.
Like his counterparts, Obama routed this state grant money to parks, libraries and schools during his eight years in the Illinois Senate.
Apparently, during that time, Obama steered money to Rev. Michael Pfleger. So, that’ll be today’s Pork Barrel Project of Day:
He also pumped cash into St. Sabina Catholic parish, the South Side church whose pastor is the Rev. Michael Pfleger, the outspoken supporter whose comments in a May sermon about Obama’s former Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, landed the priest in trouble with Cardinal Francis George. St. Sabina got $100,000 to help rebuild its community center.
This isn’t the first time that the Pork Report has covered pork to Father Pleger’s church, and Obama’s handouts weren’t the last pork received by St. Sabina. Our June 27 Pork Project of the Day...
Today’s Pork Project of the Day is a FIF fund grant awarded to The Blessed Community in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham Neighborhood. The non-profit organization received a $25,000 grant in 2006 to develop a business center in the St. Sabina Church in the Auburn Gresham Neighborhood.
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Rickey Hendon (non) quote of the day
By AFP | July 23, 2008
Today’s installment of the Rickey Hendon quote of the day series, from the Tuesday Trib:
…the Tribune investigation found that nearly half of the 48 groups that got money were running dubious programs or would not show how they spent the money. Only 11 of the grants went to established programs with a history of tutoring school-age children.
West Side Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) sponsored all of the questionable grants. At least 21 of them went to his campaign workers and donors, the investigation found. Hendon did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
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Rickey Hendon. Don’t forget the E.
By AFP | July 22, 2008
This is the first installment of our Rickey Hendon quote of the day series:
The qualifications he sought in after-school applications? The groups must be registered with the secretary of state’s office and, he quipped, “must spell my name right.” He said many people forget the “e” in his first name, Rickey.
The after-school grants, which totaled $4.7 million, are just a sliver of the state’s $9.7 billion education budget. But the awards come as schools slash programs, cut teaching positions and use outdated textbooks to balance budgets.
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Kids, this is how you soak the system
By AFP | July 21, 2008
Today’s Pork Project of the Day is, without a doubt, the bundle of absurd after-school grants handed out by the state on behalf of State Sen. Rickey Hendon. The projects were uncovered over the weekend by a Chicago Tribune investigation. If you haven’t read the story, READ IT NOW.
This week should be a fun one at the Pork Report. As part of our Pork Barrel Project of the Day Campaign, we’re going to be filing some Freedom of Information Act Requests, continuing our own grassroots investigations of state pork.
Also, after reading the Tribune article, we think we’ll go ahead and have a “Rickey Hendon quote of the Day” segment as well.
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