AGENCY MISMANAGEMENT
Judge orders DCFS director to answer for repeated failures to release public documents in child death
An Illinois state agency paid a Kansas-based staffing contractor $78.5 million for time its employees spent on standby rather than actually working, part of a broader failure to properly oversee contractor billing, according to a report issued by a state watchdog.
The report released Tuesday from Illinois Auditor General Christopher Meister’s office found the Illinois Emergency Management Agency-Office of Homeland Security did not provide proof to auditors that it could determine how many contractors it needed or to verify that its contractors were billing the state accurately. The agency has been responsible for helping coordinate the state’s response to major emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of migrants three years ago to the Chicago area.
The $78.5 million in standby billing — a practice known as “standdown,” under which contractors are paid even when not actively working — came from Favorite Healthcare Staffing, a national employment agency based in Kansas that also helped Chicago respond to the migrant influx and contributed to the city’s multimillion-dollar costs for housing new arrivals. Favorite Staffing billed the state $220.3 million in total during the audit period, with the standdown billings alone accounting for 469,892 hours, the report found.
“IEMA-OHS indicated it paid a premium for contractual staff due to being procured during the pandemic when there was an overwhelming demand and a limited supply of qualified people; however, IEMA-OHS could not provide documentation to support that it conducted an analysis to determine the appropriate number of contractor staff it needed,” the report said.
State Rep. Mike Coffey responded to the report and said this:
“State agencies must be held accountable for financial mismanagement,” said Coffey. “Illinois has the nation’s highest state-managed public pension debt and yet we continue to see our state budget grow and a trend of wasteful spending.”
Favorite Staffing has come under scrutiny in Illinois for its high costs, especially during the crisis several years ago when undocumented migrants crossing the border were sent to the Chicago area from Texas. Its contract with the city was the costliest by far during the migrant crisis, with the firm receiving hundreds of millions of dollars to run operations at city migrant shelters. A Tribune investigation in 2023 found some of those costs were questionable, with Favorite Staffing charging premium rates and overtime costs as invoices showed hundreds of Favorite Staffing employees logged workweeks of 84 hours or more during the first half of 2023.
Read more from the Chicago Tribune.
IMMIGRATION
Colleges scramble after court strikes down in-state tuition for Illinois undocumented students
Thousands of undocumented students who attended high school in Illinois may soon have to pay more expensive out-of-state tuition rates for college — a change that could jeopardize their access to higher education.
On July 24, a federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump struck down parts of three Illinois laws that allowed eligible undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates at community colleges and public universities and to receive state financial aid.
Judge David Dugan of the Southern District of Illinois sided with the U.S. Department of Justice in its argument that these provisions violate federal law because they grant a benefit to noncitizens who live in state that citizens who live out of state cannot get.
The state law concerning in-state tuition had been on the books for more than two decades. To qualify for the benefit, students must have attended an Illinois high school for at least three years, among other criteria. […]
Nearly 25,000 students at colleges and universities in Illinois are undocumented, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, which tracks immigrant student enrollment data across the country.
Read more from the Chicago Sun-Times.
CORRUPTION/ETHICS
House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch completed a media tour last week defending his handling of sexual harassment complaints in the Illinois House, but many are saying there are still more questions than answers. Welch told WGN-TV he was forming a new House Culture and Accountability working group that would begin meeting next week. It will be led by State Rep. Dagmara Avelar. No Republicans are members. However, not all Democrats are buying are buying Welch’s Working Group.
Speaker Welch created the Workplace Culture and Accountability Working Group in an attempt to save face, but the group is already falling apart before it even gets off the ground.
Three Democratic lawmakers whose names were floated for the group have declined to participate, while even Governor Pritzker has questioned whether a working group is the right approach.
Here is what they are saying:
Rep. Kelly Cassidy:
“I’m disappointed, as I believe a working group on this topic could be necessary and important. But we have a responsibility to victims and survivors to ensure any such body is credible and effective, and I currently do not have confidence it will be.”
Rep. Gregg Johnson:
“But I’ve just made it very clear that I didn’t feel comfortable serving on the committee unless it was going to consist of people who had not publicly put out any statements or taken any interviews because I saw different narratives coming out of those interviews and those conversations.”
“My name was shared as a member of the House Culture and Accountability Working Group before I agreed to participate,” Rep. Katz Muhl told Capitol Fax yesterday. “After thoughtful consideration, I declined to serve.”
Governor Pritzker:
“I’ve seen working groups go on for a year-and-a-half. There is no time here. There are already models for dealing with this in other states. I believe that there doesn’t need to be much of a discussion through a working group.”
Speaker Welch’s working group is nothing more than a PR stunt. Even members of his own party are questioning its credibility and effectiveness. A Democrat-only working group that includes some members who have publicly defended Welch’s handling of the controversy is no substitute for real, bipartisan reform.
While Speaker Welch focuses on damage control, House Republicans have consistently pushed for meaningful ethics reforms:
HB 1382 : Allows Legislative Inspector General to issue subpoenas without prior approval and requires the Executive and Legislative Ethics Commissions to release the reports to the public
HB 1554 : Prohibits use of campaign funds for a criminal defense related to misconduct in capacity as a public official, any claims of sexual harassment, or any claims of discrimination
HB 1727 : Suspends pension benefits to public officials if they’re charged with a felony connected to their public service, and permanently withholds these funds upon conviction