HR0088 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0088 LRB097 10335 AEK 50543 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Recent media reports indicate that a state workers' compensation arbitrator who was to decide whether former Illinois State Trooper Matt Mitchell should be compensated for his injuries took actions to keep an arbitration hearing secret; and

WHEREAS, It was only through diligent work by the press that led to the Freedom of Information Act requests inquiring about the change of hearing place that led to the general public's knowledge of this arbitration action; and

WHEREAS, The chief of staff for the Illinois Attorney General spoke out against apparent deceptive practices manifested by the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission when it appears to have attempted to mislead and prevent the public to be informed of a public arbitration hearing; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois Auditor General conduct an extraordinary compliance and programmatic audit of the Workers' Compensation Commission, with special, but not exclusive, attention, to the issue of possible collusion between the Commission and Illinois public safety officers, especially the case of former Trooper Matt Mitchell.