Full Text of SR1258 98th General Assembly
SR1258 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Neighborhood Recovery Initiative is a program
| 3 | | launched in October of 2010 by Governor Quinn and established | 4 | | at the
Illinois Violence Prevention Authority from Fiscal Year | 5 | | 2011 to Fiscal
Year 2012; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, This program was created by the Governor's Office
| 7 | | without legislative oversight due to the discretion given the
| 8 | | Governor's Office through lump sum appropriations in the Fiscal | 9 | | Year
2011 budget; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, In Fiscal Year 2013, after concerns were publicly | 11 | | raised
about the purpose and the effectiveness of the program, | 12 | | the Illinois
Violence Prevention Authority was abolished and | 13 | | the Neighborhood
Recovery Initiative was moved to the Illinois | 14 | | Criminal Justice
Information Authority; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, A performance audit, conducted by the Illinois
| 16 | | Auditor General, of the $54,550,000 spent in the first 2 years | 17 | | of
the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative found numerous | 18 | | extraordinary
"pervasive deficiencies" in the Illinois | 19 | | Violence Prevention
Authority's planning, implementation, and | 20 | | management of the
Neighborhood Recovery Initiative; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Media investigations have discovered that State |
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| 1 | | funds
issued through the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative were | 2 | | used to hand
out flyers promoting "inner peace", to pay people | 3 | | to attend yoga
classes, and to pay people to walk in a parade | 4 | | with Governor Quinn; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The Neighborhood Recovery Initiative process is
| 6 | | currently being investigated by the Cook County State's | 7 | | Attorney's
Office and the United States Department of Justice; | 8 | | and | 9 | | WHEREAS, The Fiscal Year 2013 and Fiscal Year 2014 budgets | 10 | | do not
contain appropriations to the Neighborhood Recovery
| 11 | | Initiative, however, both budgets did appropriate general | 12 | | revenue
funds to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information | 13 | | Authority for
programs similar to those of the Neighborhood | 14 | | Recovery Initiative,
such as the community based violence | 15 | | prevention program, the After-School
program, and the Chicago | 16 | | Area Project; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The Illinois House of Representatives approved | 18 | | House Resolution 888,
on April 17, 2014, directing the Auditor | 19 | | General to conduct a
performance audit of the State moneys | 20 | | provided by or through the
Illinois Criminal Justice | 21 | | Information Authority to all community based
violence | 22 | | prevention programs, the After-School program, and the
Chicago | 23 | | Area Project, under contracts or grant agreements in Fiscal
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| 1 | | Year 2013 and Fiscal Year 2014; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, House Bill 6097, as passed by the House of | 3 | | Representatives on May 27, 2014, contains Fiscal Year 2015
| 4 | | appropriations for the Illinois Department of Labor, including | 5 | | a new
lump sum appropriation of $20,000,000 for "grants to | 6 | | State and local
agencies and community providers for at-risk | 7 | | community support
programs, after-school programs, and youth | 8 | | employment opportunities"; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Labor does not currently, and | 10 | | has not
recently, administered grant funds, but especially | 11 | | grant funds for
"agencies and community providers for at-risk | 12 | | community support
programs"; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, House Bill 6093, as passed by the House of | 14 | | Representatives on May 27, 2014, contains Fiscal Year 2015
| 15 | | appropriations for the Illinois State Board of Education, | 16 | | including a
new lump sum appropriation for $3,200,000 for | 17 | | "targeted initiatives"; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The members of the legislature have a fiduciary | 19 | | duty to
be good stewards of taxpayers' money and to ensure to | 20 | | the best our
ability that tax dollars are spent efficiently, | 21 | | ethically, and legally; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 2 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Auditor General is | 3 | | directed to conduct a performance audit of all State moneys | 4 | | provided by or through the Illinois Department of Labor for | 5 | | "grants to State and local agencies and community providers for | 6 | | at-risk community support programs", or any similar | 7 | | expenditure of appropriate funds; and be it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General is directed to conduct a
| 9 | | performance audit of all State moneys provided by or through | 10 | | the
Illinois State Board of Education for "targeted | 11 | | initiatives", or any
similar expenditure of appropriated | 12 | | funds; and be it further | 13 | | RESOLVED, These performance audits include, but are not be | 14 | | limited
to, the following determinations:
| 15 | | (1) the purposes for which State moneys were provided to | 16 | | both the
Department of Labor for "grants at State and local | 17 | | agencies and
community providers for at-risk community support | 18 | | programs", and the
State Board of Education for "targeted | 19 | | initiatives";
| 20 | | (2) the nature and extent of monitoring by the Department | 21 | | of Labor and
the State Board of Education of how these State | 22 | | funds were utilized
and if these funds were fairly and |
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| 1 | | adequately distributed;
| 2 | | (3) the actual use of State moneys by the Department of | 3 | | Labor and the
State Board of Education, including the identity | 4 | | of any sub-recipients
and the amounts and purposes for | 5 | | employment;
| 6 | | (4) the number of positions paid through the programs by
| 7 | | organizational unit, job title, function, and salary and | 8 | | whether
employees completed and filled out appropriate time | 9 | | sheets;
| 10 | | (5) the number of positions supervised or managed by each | 11 | | management
position and whether any of those employees were | 12 | | supervised or managed
by more than one management position; | 13 | | (6) whether, through a review of available documentation, | 14 | | the programs
have met or are meeting the purposes for which the | 15 | | State moneys were
provided, with specific information | 16 | | concerning the programs staffing
levels, hiring procedures, | 17 | | and its compensation of employees; and
| 18 | | (7) whether the programs are in compliance with the | 19 | | applicable laws,
regulations, contracts, and grant agreements | 20 | | pertaining to the
program's receipt of State moneys; and be it | 21 | | further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Department of Labor and the State Board | 2 | | of
Education, and any other State agency or other entity or | 3 | | person that
may have information relevant to these audits | 4 | | cooperate fully and
promptly with the Auditor General's Office | 5 | | in its audits; and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence both audits as | 7 | | soon
as practical, one year following enactment of these | 8 | | appropriated
funds, and report its findings and | 9 | | recommendations upon completion in
accordance with the | 10 | | provisions of Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act; | 11 | | and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to
the Auditor General, the Director of Labor and the | 14 | | State
Superintendent of Schools.
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