September 22, 2017

To the Honorable Members of

The Illinois Senate,

100th General Assembly:

Today I veto Senate Bill 321 from the 100th General Assembly, which provides that the Auditor General initiate a performance audit of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. 

The audit requirement is specific to certain managed care provisions and can be performed as part of a larger internal or external audit of the Department’s managed care program.  The Auditor General has authority to examine the Department and programs such as these every two years. Furthermore, the Department has worked on transparent implementation of the cited programs that included involvement by the Medicaid Advisory Committee.  Through this process the Department continues to diligently work toward compliance with all statutory requirements.  Requiring a separate audit is expensive, time consuming, and unnecessary. 

Therefore, pursuant to Section 9(b) of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby return Senate Bill 321, entitled “AN ACT concerning State government,” with the foregoing objections, vetoed in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Bruce Rauner

GOVERNOR