THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Did state employees steal pandemic aid?...Pritzker's abortion hotline...Clean energy keeps coming to Illinois
August 3, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appears to be willing to cut a deal to keep the Chicago Bears in the city. Money doesn’t grow on trees, obviously, which I’m not sure the Mayor understands yet, but I’ve said all along I don’t think the Bears were ever moving out of the city.
Gov. Pritzker takes part in a rally to promote infrastructure investments near downtown at 10 and signs the Whole Child legislation on the west side at 1.
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YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
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State watchdog investigating employees accused of bilking federal pandemic aid program (Capitol News Illinois)
Dozens of state employees across multiple agencies are under investigation by a state watchdog for claims they fraudulently obtained payments from a federal pandemic-era loan program, Capitol News Illinois has learned.
Neil Olson, general counsel at the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General, confirmed that “OEIG has been investigating allegations of Paycheck Protection Program fraud by state employees under our jurisdiction.” The review, he said, is “systematic,” involving multiple state agencies and the other governing bodies under OEIG’s jurisdiction, which include state universities, boards and commissions, and regional transit boards.
Congress intended for the loans issued by the U.S. Small Business Administration, most of which were later forgiven, to keep small businesses afloat and their employees on the payroll as COVID-19 resulted in lockdowns and interrupted commerce.
Fraud in the PPP program has been widespread across the United States. In a June report, the inspector general for the SBA estimated that the agency paid out more than $200 billion in “potentially fraudulent” aid during the pandemic – about 17 percent of the $1.2 trillion that was dispersed through the PPP and other similar programs.
In the rush to swiftly disburse funds, the federal agency “weakened or removed the controls necessary to prevent fraudsters from easily gaining access to these programs,” the report stated. “The allure of ‘easy money’ in this pay and chase environment attracted an overwhelming number of fraudsters to the programs.”
The OEIG typically does not comment on ongoing investigations, and Olson declined to say how many employees could face disciplinary action – up to and including termination – as a result of the widespread probe or provide any additional details.
The scandal has ensnared numerous employees who work at the Illinois Department of Human Services, including at state-run facilities for people with disabilities that are facing staffing shortages. In late June, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed that at least 30 IDHS employees were in various stages of the disciplinary process for inappropriately taking PPP loans. At the time, eight IDHS employees had been fired, six had resigned and 16 were pending disciplinary action.
In a statement, the agency said that it is “committed to safeguarding the public” and takes the outcomes of the OEIG’s investigations seriously.
“Falsifying a federal loan document, for significant and improper personal gain, calls into question one’s character, honesty, and ability to act ethically,” the statement read. “While the vast majority of IDHS’ roughly 14,000 state employees are hard-working people of strong character who work tirelessly to help the most vulnerable, it is deeply concerning any time an employee takes advantage of public programs.”
We’ll see if the Attorney General spends as much time prosecuting these as he has those who have bilked the state for $5 billion in unemployment fraud.
Illinois launches service to connect complex abortion cases with needed medical care (Chicago Tribune)
A few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a 19-year-old woman traveled from Memphis to Chicago seeking an abortion. But medical providers at a local clinic told her the procedure would require hospital care due to scarring from a previous cesarean section.
The unexpected complication added travel days and lodging costs the patient hadn’t planned for, according to officials with the Chicago Abortion Fund, who scrambled to help the young woman find an abortion appointment a few days later at a Chicago hospital. The local nonprofit covered the cost of a hotel room, food and other necessities.
“I took her shopping. We went to Target together,” Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, said in a recent interview. “We got clothes, underwear, food for her hotel room, snacks, water, just to make sure she sustained herself over the much longer time period that she was going to be here.”
Seeking to address such situations, the state of Illinois in August is launching a service to help connect women seeking abortions who have more complex medical issues and need hospital care with the proper providers when stand-alone clinics can’t provide the necessary services.
It’s the latest effort by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker to position Illinois as a safe haven for abortion patients and providers, and it comes as a near-total ban on the procedure is set to take effect Tuesday in neighboring Indiana.
As the number of out-of-state abortion seekers has surged in Illinois following the fall of Roe in June 2022, reproductive rights activists say they’re also seeing more abortion patients with complications requiring hospital care.
Those can include emergency situations such as life-threatening pregnancies and dire fetal diagnoses. But sometimes even more common medical issues, such as anemia, thyroid conditions, heart problems and — like in the case of the patient from Memphis — C-section scarring can require hospitalization when terminating a pregnancy.
Related: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is launching a hotline to help high-risk patients get abortions at hospitals (WBEZ)
Illinois to invest more than $23 million in abortion access, reproductive health care initiatives (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois ‘most promising state’ for clean energy investments, Pritzker says in Decatur stop (Bloomington Pantagraph)
Illinois is on track to be the “most promising state” in the nation for clean energy investments, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a stop in Decatur on Wednesday.
Pritzker emphasized his administration’s dedication to clean energy at the groundbreaking of a new Electric Vehicle Innovation Hub at TCCI Manufacturing. The $45 million project will allow both research for manufacturers and training programs targeting the next generation of EV workers.
“Not only will this new hub support the launch of one of the first made-in-America electric compressor manufacturing facilities, but it will also house the new Climatic Center for Innovation and Research, especially designed to push the bounds of possibilities in electric vehicles,” Pritzker said.
A new, skilled workforce is necessary to push those boundaries, said TCCI President Richard Demirjian.
“Together we will create a scalable workforce ecosystem with specialized programs and apprenticeships that will prepare individuals for fields of climate technology, electric vehicle manufacturing, and related energy and agricultural industries,” Demirjian said.
THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
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POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Diversion program for people caught with illegal guns for the first time is expanded, extended (Chicago Tribune)
Illinois GOP's reaction to the latest Trump indictment runs from outrage to silence (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Illinois Democrats end year's first half with slightly more cash than GOP, records show (Daily Herald)
In Central Illinois stop, Buttigieg calls rail projects 'a win' for region (Bloomington Pantagraph)
U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood to host town halls in every county of 14th District (Shaw Media)
More than 47,000 Illinois residents lose Medicaid as state begins asking recipients to prove eligibility (Chicago Tribune)
Competition emerges for Illinois Chamber chief (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Residents decry ‘audacity’ of proposed $402 million Peoples Gas rate hike (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Don’t hold back on speaking out about Peoples Gas rate hike proposal (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Chicago needs an international tourism campaign that stresses safety (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Illinois Is the Most Progressive State (Chicago Magazine)
Opinion: Illinois juvenile detention centers can hide mistreatment behind FOIA exclusion (Chicago Tribune)
Opinion: Jurors will soon judge Mapes' 'I know nothing' claim (Champaign News-Gazette)
Opinion: Fraud audit shows results of pandemic-era concessions (Shaw Media)
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