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         March 14, 2010        

State Government Suggestion Award Board
to decide next week on Sherman challenges to
$2.3 Billion in state grants to religious organizations

The Illinois State Government Suggestion Award Board ("SGSAB") will review, next week, my challenge to the constitutionality of $2.3 billion in state grants from the Capital Bill.  The SGSAB will meet next Wednesday, March 24th, at 10:00 a.m., in Room 307 of the Capitol.  That's the office of Senator Larry K. Bomke (R-50).  Senator Bomke is in charge of the SGSAB.

If the SGSAB approves all of my challenges, the Suggestion Award Board could award me up to $258,930 for saving the State of Illinois lots of money.  The award would be based on a sliding schedule of one to five percent of each challenge that is upheld, capped at $5,000 per challenge.  The higher percentages apply to smaller savings.  For example, if I save the State $2,001, I would be awarded $100, or five percent.  If I save the State $10,001, I would be awarded $300, or three percent.  If I save the State $100,000, I would be awarded $1,000, or one percent.  That's a fair schedule for all of my hard work.

The $2.3 billion dollars in challenges are spread over 176 separate challenges.  If you think that $258,930 is a lot of money for the State to be paying me, first of all, I won't get all of that money because the State surely will not agree with every single one of my challenges.  Also, keep in mind that I spent just about all of my time for six months, from July, 2009, to January, 2010, reviewing and doing in-depth research on each and every one of an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 line items in the Capital Bill, to save you literally thousands of dollars, per person, on your taxes. 

Not one other person in the entire State of Illinois was willing to do that for you.  In addition, there was no guarantee, and there still is no guarantee, that I would receive a dime for my efforts.

I even gave up my sweet gig writing Godless in Chicago for ChicagoNow, because I didn't have time to write for ChicagoNow plus manage the Reader Comments -- both of which for me was very time-consuming -- and do the research on the Capital Bill.  For those of you who have asked why I left ChicagoNow, now you know.  I didn't have time to do both.  There was no other reason.  I was treated extremely well, at all times, by the staff and management of ChicagoNow, and I still maintain warm relationships with them.  Notice, also, how there was only one entry in Rob Sherman News in January of this year.  I was racing to finish work on the Capital Bill project before the bonds were sold to fund the Capital Bill projects. 

Most of the challenged grants are to religious organizations:  Houses of worship, parochial schools and religious ministries.  Many of the religious organizations that were chosen to receive grants appear to be politically connected to state legislators.  Some of the grants go to religious organizations at which the legislator who sponsored the grant is a member of the religious organization's management.

Examples of those kinds of grants are the $140,000 to Saint Martin de Porres Roman Catholic Church, on the West Side of Chicago, for unspecified "general infrastructure" (see Page 93 of my Details List), where State Representative LaShawn Ford (D-08) is on the Parish Council and Finance Council, according to his biography on his home page on the General Assembly web site.  According to the church web site, "The Finance Council is responsible for Church Fundraisers."  Nice job, LaShawn!  LaShawn's name has been removed, as a member, from the church web pages for the Parish Council and Finance Council since I first reported on this matter, but he's still a member.  Just look at the last line of his biography on his home page on the General Assembly web site.  Oops!

Another example is a grant of $500,000 to Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, a Roman Catholic parochial high school on the West Side of Chicago, for a new building (see Page 129 of the Details List), where the same Representative LaShawn Ford is a member of the Board of Trustees.  LaShawn is still listed on the web page of the religious organization for that one.

Meanwhile, Senator James T. Meeks (D-15) informed me recently that the Salem Christian Academy that is supposed to get a $20,000 grant for "infrastructure improvements" (see Article 10, Section 6655, on page 541 of the Capital Bill) is not the Salem Christian Academy on the South Side of Chicago where Senator Meeks is the CEO.  Rather, Senator Meeks says that the grant is supposedly going to Salem Christian School, on the North Side of Chicago, an institution Senator Meeks is not affiliated with.

That's not what the Grant on page 541 of the Capital Bill says.  The Grant says "Salem Christian Academy," not "Salem Christian School," but I've found that, many times, there is a lack of precision in legislation that legislators submit to the General Assembly, so what Senator Meeks says could be true.  It also could be a case where Senator Meeks found an institution with a similar name to divert the grant to in order to save face.  You be the judge.

What a grant for "general infrastructure" or "infrastructure improvements" to a religious organization really means is that the grant is simply a donation of your tax dollars to the particular religious organization.  It's all illegal.  We'll see what the Suggestion Award Board says next week.

The March 24th meeting of the State Government Suggestion Award Board is open to the public.  I hope to see you there.  Come on by and let the SGSAB know what you think they should do regarding any or all of the Line Items from the Capital Bill that I have challenged.

It's your money.  I've done what I can.  Now it's your chance to speak up on the issue.

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