What’s black and white and red with fury all over? The 600 member newspapers of the
Illinois Press Association. In July, the Illinois Secretary of State awarded
the association a contract worth $806,166 to publish announcements for the
proposed Constitutional Convention ballot initiative. Now newspapers, along
with pharmacists, doctors, nursing homes and daycare centers have to wait who
knows how long to get paid.
“We have been and will continue to work with the Secretary of State’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office to get payment as soon as possible. While we are planning on getting
paid (and paying you) in December, payments might not go out until January,” IPA advertising director Jeffrey J. Holman informed members last week.
In the meantime, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Comptroller Dan Hynes discussed borrowing cash to pay some of the state’s bills. The Con-Con proposal, which ultimately failed, would have made it
possible to reorganize state government, including how finances are handled.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2008.
