Republican Lawmakers Say Funding Still Exists For NRI-Like Programs
(CBS) -- Republican lawmakers are suggesting the Quinn Administration may be keeping alive funding for community programs similar to what was under a troubled anti-violence program the Governor shut down, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
Governor Quinn ended the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative four years ago after questions were raised about how the money was being spent, but Republican State Senator Jason Barickman, who co-chairs the Legislative Audit Commissions says something that looks like NRI still seems to be alive.
Podcast
"Even though we know NRI as a titled program may not exist today, what we see is the $20 million at the Department of Labor looks just like NRI and we would expect that we may see, unfortunately, many of the same problems that we found though our audit of the NRI program," said Barickman.
The governor's budget office says it was House Democrats who earmarked that money for job training and the governor has moved the funds to the better equipped Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity where it is well accounted for.
