State rep points to lack of accountability as IL taxpayer money flows to NGOs

[July 18, 2025]  By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Questions about transparency and accountability surround millions of Illinois taxpayer dollars appropriated for non-governmental organizations.  

Illinois state Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, during floor debate on May 29, 2025
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The record-high $55.2 billion Illinois state budget includes dozens of six and seven-figure line items for a variety of NGOs with a wide range of missions.

Organizations slated to receive state taxpayer funds include churches, ethnic and cultural centers, healthcare entities, organized labor, municipal chambers of commerce, neighborhood groups and others.

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, said two things come to mind with these appropriations.

“One is transparency. What are the funds being spent for, what is the purpose of the funds, who are the funds being sent to and what is used in the funds? And then accountability, are the funds being spent for their intended purpose?” Windhorst told The Center Square.

Windhorst said he does not believe the state has guardrails to ensure good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. He said issues have arisen in the past, including one case about a decade ago.

“We had the issue of money being appropriated that was just essentially passed out on the street to people under the guise of neighborhood protection,” Windhorst said.

The Pat Quinn-era Neighborhood Recovery Initiative program doled out tens of millions of dollars to nonprofit anti-violence groups throughout the state over several years before the 2014 election. An investigation found little grant oversight and lots of waste.

More recently, Windhorst said he served on a crime-reduction task force which made an effort to make sure entities used grants to achieve their intended purpose.

“I found that exercise to be helpful, but there was really no follow up afterward to hold people accountable for how they were spending the money, at least not in any way that I was involved with. If there was anything that occurred, it occurred only with the majority party behind closed doors,” Windhorst said.

Windhorst said legislators should make sure the state’s expenditures are actually necessary, given the tough budget status in Illinois.
 

 

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