Auditor General Reports
Toll Highway Authority The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has been sued by several contractors for breach of contract and/or negligence in the construction of the East-West Tollway Extension. The suits represent a total of $35 million. The authority is also the defendant in a number of other suits, not covered by insurance, totalling $9.4 million. The Emergency Services Disaster Agency paid $2,509 for the director's use of chartered planes in non-emergency situations to attend parades and festivals. The agency also paid $482 for the director's cabs, tolls and parking fees while at his official Chicago headquarters in violation of travel regulations. A "Drought in Illinois" report, which cost the agency $23,956, was charged to improper appropriations. An audit of Governors State University revealed that more than $200,000 has been accumulated in excess parking income to finance additional parking facilities. The State Finance Act restricts the amount of money derived from auxiliary facilities to pay for their support. All additional funds should be paid into the state treasury. A financial statement audit of the University of Illinois Foundation showed that $11,796,834 was expended to acquire real estate, repair existing structures and purchase computers in FY 1977. No legislative approval was needed because the university did not directly enter into the transactions. The Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Region V Administration Office is owed $689,250 in unpaid bills from former and present patients as of June 30, 1977, according to the auditor general's office. Legal recourse is being sought in several cases, but a large-scale effort to erase the debts is hampered by an understaffed collection division. H.J.R.C.A. 27 was sponsored by Rep. Alan Greiman (D., Skokie) and Rep. James C. Taylor (D., Chicago). The blacks said they were upset at having been left out of negotiations to choose a black caucus leader to replace retiring Rep. Corneal A. Davis (D., Chicago), a choice they implied had been signalled by allowing fellow-black Rep. Taylor to be a prime co-sponsor of ERA. The issue was resurrected June 22, this time with Rep. Davis as chief sponsor of a new resolution, H.J.R.C.A. 54. The black protesters were back in the fold, but out to lunch was Rep. J. David Jones (R., Springfield), a past supporter who now decided not to vote because he said it was futile — unless the Senate should pass ERA first. So the vote was 105-71, just two votes short of House adoption, with insiders saying that had the 106th vote been delivered by Jones, a number of representatives were eager to switch over and become the hero of the moment. With national attention focused on the chamber, pressure was intense during the vote June 22. Emotions ran high, with anti-ERA legislators on their feet screaming at the speaker that unfair parliamentary procedures had been allowed, and Gov. Thompson trying in vain to persuade waivering Republicans to vote for the resolution, telephoning them from his office. Just three more states must ratify the amendment for it to become part of the U.S. Constitution, but the deadline for ratification is next March 22, unless Congress extends it. Illinois is considered the key state for victory or defeat. Off-track betting Legislation to make it more convenient to place bets on horse races disappeared without a whisper in the Senate amid disagreement over whether the revenues should go to local schools or regional "core" cities. H.B. 3259 never came to a vote in the Senate on final passage stage, although it passed the House 90-75 May 25. It would have allowed establishment of government regulated off-track betting parlors. Chicago Democrats wanted the bill badly, since it would have provided tens of millions of dollars of new revenues for their city. But they could not prevent amendments which would divert the revenue from the cities to local schools including downstate schools. "The bill was once intended as a proposition to assist local governments," said Senate President Hynes. But the bill was never killed, and it is expected to be revived in the veto session in November, when political posturings will be less rigid, after the general election. Other banished bills The sole remaining unemployment insurance reform bill was stranded in conference committee at session's end. H.B. 3177, sponsored by Rep. Richard A. Mautino (D., Spring Valley), was amended to include a series of Democratic proposals they said would: crack down on fraud, aid small businesses, and remove students, volunteer firemen, jurors and others from unemployment insurance coverage. Republicans and business leaders opposed the bill vehemently, charging that it would bankrupt the already overburdened, too costly system. A bill to restrict ownership of Illinois farms by foreigners was banished to the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Energy Committee. H.B. 1357, sponsored by Rep. Harlan Rigney (R., Freeport), passed the House 106-28 May 25. It may be resurrected in November. Two bills that would have required the state to reimburse local governments for the cost of mandated programs failed to win approval. H.B. 3112 was shelved on third reading and never brought for a vote. H.B. 3113 passed both houses, but in different forms, and the report of a conference committee was not adopted. Both bills were sponsored by Rep. Harry Yourell (D., Oak Lawn). 30/August 1978/Illinois Issues
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