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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 63

 
2    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its operating units are
3currently experiencing a fiscal situation that is demanding the
4close attention of the people of Illinois; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its operating units are
6constantly incurring millions of dollars of expenses every day
7just to continue to operate, with much of these operating
8expenses being piled up into what is now a backlog of more than
9$14 billion in unpaid State bills; and
 
10    WHEREAS, One element of these overall operating costs, and
11of the State's unpaid bill backlog, are the moneys paid by the
12State and its taxpayers to rent or lease parcels of real
13property; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Serious questions have arisen as to the
15interrelationship between some of the lease agreements entered
16into by the State in recent months, the actual market values of
17the properties being leased, the lease payments that would be
18paid if their properties were leased in an arm's length
19transaction between independent parties, and the overall
20fiscal situation of the State; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE

 

 

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1HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE
2CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Auditor General is directed to
3conduct a performance audit of the State's decision to enter
4into a five-year, $2.4 million lease for property at 2410 South
5Grand Ave. East, Springfield, Illinois ("lease"); and be it
6further
 
7    RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not be limited to,
8the following determinations:
 
9        (1) The justification for the space request by the
10    Department of Human Services (DHS), including the location
11    and condition of the premises where the records were
12    previously stored and the functions were previously
13    performed ("existing space");
 
14        (2) Whether the Department of Central Management
15    Services (CMS) or other appropriate State agencies
16    considered renovating the existing space and, if so, what
17    projections were made for the cost of renovating the
18    existing space;
 
19        (3) Whether CMS considered the availability of other
20    State-owned or leased space before the decision to enter
21    into a new lease was made, including what specific
22    State-owned or leased properties were reviewed prior to

 

 

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1    making the decision to enter into a new lease;
 
2        (4) Whether CMS conducted an analysis of the
3    cost-benefit of purchasing instead of leasing the property
4    at 2410 South Grand Ave. East, Springfield, Illinois,
5    including costs associated with renovating and maintaining
6    the property;
 
7        (5) Whether DHS or any other appropriate State agency
8    has conducted a cost-benefit analysis comparing the costs
9    of digitizing records as compared to maintaining records in
10    hard copy form, including the costs of storage, access, and
11    travel, if any, to retrieve hard copy records for various
12    official purposes, as well as the security risks of
13    confidential records in one form as compared to the other;
 
14        (6) The role of the Procurement Policy Board ("Board")
15    in reviewing the lease, including whether the Board has any
16    conflict-of-interest procedures for members to recuse
17    themselves because of personal, professional, or financial
18    relationships;
 
19        (7) Identification of the persons involved in the
20    procurement, and their respective roles and
21    responsibilities;
 

 

 

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1        (8) The process, time frame, and coordination followed
2    by CMS in examining the lease requirements and advertising
3    the procurement opportunity, including any steps taken to
4    ensure adequate competition;
 
5        (9) Whether any confidential information was shared
6    between the CMS leasing agent and any of the bidders or
7    potential bidders in the procurement process;
 
8        (10) The decision of CMS to proceed with the warehouse
9    lease after receiving only one bid; and
 
10        (11) Whether relationships between the seller of the
11    property ("Barney's"), the buyer of the property, and the
12    chairman of the Procurement Policy Board played a role in
13    the warehouse lease; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That we call upon the State of Illinois and its
15operating units, including, but not limited to, the Department
16of Central Management Services, to immediately suspend the
17drafting, negotiation, perfection, and signing of any lease on
18any parcel of real property, and that this suspension is to
19continue until the conclusion of the audit directed by this
20resolution; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services, the

 

 

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1Department of Central Management Services, the Procurement
2Policy Board, and any other State agency or other entity having
3information relevant to this audit shall cooperate fully and
4promptly with the Auditor General's Office in the conduct of
5this audit; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as
7soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations
8upon completion in accordance with the provisions of Section
93-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That for the purpose of this resolution, the
11conclusion of this audit shall not be deemed to have taken
12place until the Legislative Audit Commission has reviewed the
13findings of this audit in a public meeting, and the General
14Assembly has been accorded adequate time on its legislative
15calendar to take any actions that may be reasonably deemed
16necessary or desirable to implement any recommendations made by
17the audit and to remedy any problems or dysfunctions uncovered
18by the audit; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution shall be
20presented to Governor Bruce Rauner; Michael Hoffman, the Acting
21Director of Central Management Services; Frank J. Mautino,
22Auditor General; and Jane Stricklin, the Executive Director of
23the Legislative Audit Commission.