Illinois Auditor General William Holland recently released an audit of former governor Rod Blagojevich’s last year in office, which revealed a list of problems regarding the way his administration hired legal help.

According to the audit, Blagojevich spent millions of taxpayer dollars on outside lawyers instead of using attorneys who were already on the state payroll, which had been standard practice. The report also mentions that the former governor opted not to use the attorney general’s office, often going around Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Nor did he seek competitive bids for the legal services; more than $5 million of $7.2 million in contracts weren’t competitively bid. And it was also reported that Blagojevich used taxpayer dollars to hire lawyers for his own impeachment-related issues.

Additionally, in what was apparently an attempt to disguise the growing legal costs, the Blagojevich administration distributed the bills amongst other state agencies.  Holland said that out of the $7.2 million worth of legal work performed during Blagojevich’s last year, the governor’s office paid less than $22,000. Burdening these agencies—including Public Health and Transportation—with the unrelated expense meant that each of the agencies had less money to spend on their own programs and services.

The list of offenses found by the audit confirms the astounding mishandling and mistreatment of Illinois government at the hands of Rod Blagojevich—at the cost of Illinois taxpayers.

Chicago-area transit agencies, along with public community colleges and universities, counties and municipalities, spent millions in tax dollars on lobbyists over one year, according to a survey of local governments and public agencies facilitated by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR).

These groups spent millions of taxpayer money to hire people in an attempt to influence state government decisions.  The ICPR found that more than 119 governmental units spent over $6.3 million to hire more than 80 lobbying firms in the 2009 fiscal year. This figure is 23 percent higher than it was the first year the survey was conducted in 2007.

The top five lobbyist spenders include the Chicago Transit Authority, DuPage County, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, Metra, and the City Colleges of Chicago. Combined these entities spent a total of $1.3 million, more than 20 percent of the total lobbyist costs identified. 

The ICPR is a non-partisan group that is calling for greater transparency in order to better track the public money that is being spent on lobbying.  As a result of the study, the ICPR is advocating for increasing the amount of information on lobbying that has been made public. Additionally, the organization believes that there should be greater enforcement of the state’s lobbying laws.

On Saturday, June 5, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Chicago Botanic Garden will host its third annual celebration of World Environment Day. Sen. Radogno said that the forum will provide an opportunity to meet Garden scientists, horticulturists, and educators, who will be giving tours, talks and demonstrations about a range of topics.

A farmer's market stand will offer seasonal produce from the Garden's Green Youth Farm and Windy City Harvest programs, and visitors can recycle their plastic plant containers. 

World Environment Day programs are free; usual parking fees apply.

Visit www.chicagobotanic.org/wed for a complete schedule and more information.

May 7, 2010

Springfield – Senator Radogno met with several students from Hickory Creek Middle School in Frankfort, IL during the annual TECH 2010 day at the State Capitol. The students showed Sen. Radogno their project; they created a tour company’s Web site using PowerPoint and multi-media resources.

TECH 2010 is a not-for-profit initiative created to increase awareness of the importance of technology in Illinois schools, and show the need for increased funding for classroom technology.

Schools from all over the state are invited to send a team to the Statehouse, selected on the basis of geography, grade level, type of demonstration and the ability level of the students. This year almost 100 schools gathered in the Capitol to present their demonstrations to elected officials, business leaders and the general public.