Adam Andrzejewski Calls Illinois Agency's Bouncing Checks a Symptom of Opaque Government and Budget Process

From the Campaign Office of Adam Andrzejewski for Governor

Adam Andrzejewski, Republican Candidate for Governor, called the recent bounced checks by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (DHFS) "another example of a State Agency that can‟t meet the needs it is supposed to serve."

He also questioned the statement by a DHFS spokesperson, who claimed that the problem was an "administrative mistake" and not "related to the state‟s budget crisis." "Administrative mistake or not," said Andrzejewski, "it seems unrealistic to argue that this isn‟t related to the budget crisis. States that are in good financial order don‟t bounce checks."

It is more realistic to say that these are types of "mistakes" that occur when the state‟s financial systems are literally unaccountable. "First," said Andrzejewski, "we have a 2007 Auditor General‟s report that states „that the State of Illinois does not have a comprehensive, consistent inventory of state programs.‟* Next, we have a budget impasse where none of the executive or legislative leaders can even tell us what the deficit is, and lastly, we have no way to discern what these numbers are because the State‟s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 2008 is still missing."*

It is no surprise that Agencies are bouncing checks.

"The solution," says Andrzejewski "is 100% financial transparency. We need to end the process where 3 or 5 people decide on the budget behind closed doors, and then tell their caucuses to vote on it. Every Agency‟s accounting ledger, checkbook, and contracting process needs to opened up to the light of day so Illinois‟ citizens, watchdog groups, and media can view the state‟s financial condition."

"If that type of a system was in place, we wouldn‟t have over $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, unpaid bills, and state debt," said Andrzejewski. "I doubt we‟d have Illinois agencies bouncing checks, either."

*http://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Performance-Special-Multi/Performance-Audits/07-Inventory-State-Programs-Digest.pdf

* Sheila Weinberg of the Institute for Truth in Accounting (www.truthinaccounting.org)