Illinois State Employees Wrongly Claim Money Under Paycheck Protection Program and State’s Reaction Is: “Move Along. Nothing to See Here.”

The Chicago Tribune had an article yesterday about reports from the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General detailing instances of state employees, especially in the Department of Human Services, fraudulently claiming money under the Covid era Paycheck Protection Program.

What surprised me, however, was that this report and the information about the fraud came from the Office of Executive Inspector General, instead of from the agencies themselves.  I would have thought the Governor and the agencies, including the Department of Human Services, would have been interested in whether the money they were distributing was going to the people it was intended to go to.  And that they would have wanted to stop this kind of fraud and report on their efforts, to let us know they care about doing their job.

I was also surprised by the seeming lack of interest by Attorney General Kwame Raoul in investigating these claims and pursuing those who claimed money from the state they weren’t entitled to.  Instead, all that the Attorney General’s office said, in some anodyne email, was that they are reviewing referrals sent to them.  I would have thought the Attorney General would be interested in investigating these kinds of matters, on his own initiative, both to make sure people aren’t fraudulently taking money from the State and to get the money back from people who have done so.

But then, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.  This is, after all, Illinois, and it sometimes seems our last politician with real integrity left Springfield on February 11, 1861.
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UPDATE (5/9/24 2:40 pm): A version of this post appeared in the Chicago Tribune's "Voice of the People" on May 9.  (It is here.  It is the second letter.)