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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 63

2    AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend House Joint Resolution 63 by
3replacing everything after the heading with the following:
 
4    "WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its operating units are
5currently experiencing a fiscal situation that is demanding the
6close attention of the people of Illinois; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois and its operating units are
8constantly incurring millions of dollars of expenses every day
9just to continue to operate, with much of these operating
10expenses being piled up into what is now a backlog of more than
11$14 billion in unpaid State bills; and
 
12    WHEREAS, One element of these overall operating costs, and
13of the State's unpaid bill backlog, are the moneys paid by the
14State and its taxpayers to rent or lease parcels of real
15property; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Serious questions have arisen as to the
2interrelationship between some of the lease agreements entered
3into by the State in recent months, the actual market values of
4the properties being leased, the lease payments that would be
5paid if their properties were leased in an arm's length
6transaction between independent parties, and the overall
7fiscal situation of the State; therefore, be it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
9HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE
10CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Auditor General is directed to
11conduct a performance audit of the State's decision to enter
12into a five-year, $2.4 million lease for property at 2410 South
13Grand Ave. East, Springfield, Illinois ("lease"); and be it
14further
 
15    RESOLVED, That the audit include, but not be limited to,
16the following determinations:
 
17        (1) The justification for the space request by the
18    Department of Human Services (DHS), including the location
19    and condition of the premises where the records were
20    previously stored and the functions were previously
21    performed ("existing space");
 

 

 

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1        (2) Whether the Department of Central Management
2    Services (CMS) or other appropriate State agencies
3    considered renovating the existing space and, if so, what
4    projections were made for the cost of renovating the
5    existing space;
 
6        (3) Whether CMS considered the availability of other
7    State-owned or leased space before the decision to enter
8    into a new lease was made, including what specific
9    State-owned or leased properties were reviewed prior to
10    making the decision to enter into a new lease;
 
11        (4) Whether CMS conducted an analysis of the
12    cost-benefit of purchasing instead of leasing the property
13    at 2410 South Grand Ave. East, Springfield, Illinois,
14    including costs associated with renovating and maintaining
15    the property;
 
16        (5) Whether DHS or any other appropriate State agency
17    has conducted a cost-benefit analysis comparing the costs
18    of digitizing records as compared to maintaining records in
19    hard copy form, including the costs of storage, access, and
20    travel, if any, to retrieve hard copy records for various
21    official purposes, as well as the security risks of
22    confidential records in one form as compared to the other;
 

 

 

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1        (6) The role of the Procurement Policy Board ("Board")
2    in reviewing the lease, including whether the Board has any
3    conflict-of-interest procedures for members to recuse
4    themselves because of personal, professional, or financial
5    relationships;
 
6        (7) Identification of the persons involved in the
7    procurement, and their respective roles and
8    responsibilities;
 
9        (8) The process, time frame, and coordination followed
10    by CMS in examining the lease requirements and advertising
11    the procurement opportunity, including any steps taken to
12    ensure adequate competition;
 
13        (9) Whether any confidential information was shared
14    between the CMS leasing agent and any of the bidders or
15    potential bidders in the procurement process;
 
16        (10) The decision of CMS to proceed with the warehouse
17    lease after receiving only one bid; and
 
18        (11) Whether relationships between the seller of the
19    property ("Barney's"), the buyer of the property, and the
20    chairman of the Procurement Policy Board played a role in
21    the warehouse lease; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That we call upon the State of Illinois and its
2operating units, including, but not limited to, the Department
3of Central Management Services, to immediately suspend the
4drafting, negotiation, perfection, and signing of any lease on
5any parcel of real property, and that this suspension is to
6continue until the conclusion of the audit directed by this
7resolution; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That the Department of Human Services, the
9Department of Central Management Services, the Procurement
10Policy Board, and any other State agency or other entity having
11information relevant to this audit shall cooperate fully and
12promptly with the Auditor General's Office in the conduct of
13this audit; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence this audit as
15soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations
16upon completion in accordance with the provisions of Section
173-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That for the purpose of this resolution, the
19conclusion of this audit shall not be deemed to have taken
20place until the Legislative Audit Commission has reviewed the
21findings of this audit in a public meeting, and the General
22Assembly has been accorded adequate time on its legislative

 

 

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1calendar to take any actions that may be reasonably deemed
2necessary or desirable to implement any recommendations made by
3the audit and to remedy any problems or dysfunctions uncovered
4by the audit; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution shall be
6presented to Governor Bruce Rauner; Michael Hoffman, the Acting
7Director of Central Management Services; Frank J. Mautino,
8Auditor General; and Jane Stricklin, the Executive Director of
9the Legislative Audit Commission."