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| 1 | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The 2009 Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction | ||||||
| 3 | plan was passed by overwhelming majorities in both the Illinois | ||||||
| 4 | Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Illinois Jobs Now! was signed into law by Governor | ||||||
| 6 | Pat Quinn, the first capital construction plan in nearly 10 | ||||||
| 7 | years; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Illinois Jobs Now! has or will support 439,000 | ||||||
| 9 | construction jobs over the 6-year span of the plan; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, The plan is the largest capital construction plan | ||||||
| 11 | in Illinois history, with a combined cost of $31 billion in | ||||||
| 12 | State and federal funds; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, The Illinois General Assembly is especially | ||||||
| 14 | sensitive to the fact that State finances are at historic lows | ||||||
| 15 | and fiscal resources are precious; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, Taxpayers are demanding that their tax dollars be | ||||||
| 17 | spent wisely; and | ||||||
| 18 | WHEREAS, The Chicago Sun-Times recently revealed that the | ||||||
| 19 | renovation of 3 pairs of State Capitol doors cost at least | ||||||
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| 1 | $669,608; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that at | ||||||
| 3 | least $481,364 was spent on 4 chandeliers and 2 sculptures; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, The cost of these doors, chandeliers, and | ||||||
| 5 | sculptures has surprised many lawmakers, who have openly | ||||||
| 6 | questioned the propriety of such spending during a time of | ||||||
| 7 | economic crisis; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The integrity of the Capitol renovation project | ||||||
| 9 | has been cast into doubt; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Lawmakers would like to analyze the cost of the | ||||||
| 11 | renovation project and determine whether the funds provided for | ||||||
| 12 | other components of the renovation were wisely spent, given the | ||||||
| 13 | State's fiscal realities; therefore, be it
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| 14 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 15 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | ||||||
| 16 | CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Auditor General is | ||||||
| 17 | directed to investigate individual expenditures of the | ||||||
| 18 | Illinois State Capitol West Wing renovations and determine | ||||||
| 19 | whether said spending was appropriate and prudent; and be it | ||||||
| 20 | further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That the investigation shall include | ||||||
| 2 | recommendations for reducing the cost of individual | ||||||
| 3 | expenditures for on-going renovations that are deemed | ||||||
| 4 | inappropriate; and be it further | ||||||
| 5 | RESOLVED, That the Office of the Capitol Architect shall | ||||||
| 6 | provide all documentation and cooperation necessary for this | ||||||
| 7 | investigation; and be it further | ||||||
| 8 | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Auditor General shall report | ||||||
| 9 | the findings of its investigation to the Illinois General | ||||||
| 10 | Assembly no later than January 1, 2014.
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