“Rebuild Illinois” Package Contains $4 Billion in Kickbacks to State Politicians

Even though the powerful former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan resigned after federal investigations, the culture of cronyism and corruption persists in Illinois. A new investigation by the nonpartisan Better Government Association found the $45 billion “Rebuild Illinois” capital plan in 2019 contained over $4 billion in pet projects that favored the states most powerful politicians.

The BGA reports that “$144 million went to just four projects backed by Madigan...Each of those projects benefitted those to whom the former speaker has personal, professional or political ties.” They found $98 million allocated to dampen train brakes outside of hotel properties owned by clients of Madigan. Interestingly enough, they were Hyatt Hotels, a chain owned by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s family.

Additionally, $31 million went to the Academy for Global Citizenship, a charter school near his district that only requested $1.5 million. $9 million went to a Chicago public high school that never requested money, and $6 million for an airport control tower that one of Madigan’s political allies wanted.

The reason so much waste was able to make its way into the package was due to a policy that only Illinois politicians could tolerate. The concept of earmarking, or allocating funds for specific projects for your district, was banned by the U.S. Congress in 2011. Recently, it was reinstituted.

However, in Illinois, there is no requirement to report earmarks, so the $4 billion of “Leadership Additions” and “Governor’s Office Additions” are difficult to track.

With the lack of transparency in the Illinois legislative process, who knows how many more billions went to self-serving politicians instead of their constituents?

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.