Since March, Gov. JB Pritzker has spent nearly $240 million for supplies needed to respond to the pandemic.
Records on the comptroller’s website outline the spending and amounts involved. Disinfectant. Bleach. Thermometers. Body bags. Sanitizer. Hospital beds. The list of stuff bought with public money under the governor’s emergency declaration is extensive. It includes, according to the comptroller’s website, $576.40 paid for 20 packages of Post-It notes, nearly $500,000 for MRE rations and almost $461,000 for 800 iPhones.
The spending may or may not be wise. Under Pritzker’s emergency proclamation, the governor can spend money, on his own, without prior approval from anyone. Asked for invoices, the comptroller’s office said ask the governor: We haven’t gotten any invoices from Pritzker. So Illinois Times on May 7 asked the Illinois Emergency Management Agency for copies of four invoices, including the one for Post-It notes, which were supplied by a Chicago company. The agency demanded a formal request made under the state Freedom of Information Act. Today, we got a response from a paralegal in the IEMA’s legal office.
“Under the Freedom of Information Act, a public body may extend the time to respond to a FOIA request by up to five business days,” the paralegal wrote. “We are extending the time to respond to your request by five business days for the following reason: The requested records have not been located in the course of the routine search and additional efforts are being made to locate them.”
Four times since May 8, Illinois Times has asked Jordan Abudayyeh, Pritzker’s spokesperson, for help prying loose four invoices from IEMA, plus a fifth for the 800 iPhones, which cost the state $576 apiece. “Wha (sic) invoices?” she asked when the paper sent the first email asking for her help in getting the invoices. She has not replied to subsequent emails asking for help in releasing invoices detailing expenditures of public money authorized by the governor’s office.
Note: A previous version of this story included an incorrect amount for expenditures on MREs.
Contact Bruce Rushton at [email protected].
It's your money
But Pritzker's dog ate the homework
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