Three state legislators have asked Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) for the suspension of all state funding and contracts with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) pending a review of the group’s activities. The trio includes Representative Ron Stephens (R-Highland), Senator Dave Luechtefeld (R-Okawville), and Senator Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon):
“In light of the multiple news reports exposing ACORN’s questionable behavior, as well as video evidence showing ACORN employees offering tax assistance to open brothels and tips on how to launder money into a congressional campaign account, Illinois government needs to take a good, long look at the business it does with this organization,” Stephens said. “We need to see what this group is really up to and whether or not any contracts and connections they have with the state are worthy of the use of public money.”
Stephens said the organization has received grants from various state agencies. Stephens said he and some other legislators are still gathering information on how much money the organization has received.
One such example of state funding is from an Illinois Housing Development Authority (IDHA) report entitled “Illinois’ 2008 Annual Comprehensive Housing Plan – Annual Progress Report.” ACORN Housing was listed as receiving a $100,000 capacity building grant for the Predatory Lending Database Program.
The ball is now in Governor Quinn’s court, but he’s been mum so far:
A spokesman for Quinn’s office could not be reached for comment Thursday.
CBS 2 Chicago interviewed two former ACORN Illinois staffers about their reasons for quitting the organization two years ago.
In Congress, both the House and Senate have voted to defund ACORN. Governors in California and Minnesota have asked for investigations into how taxpayer dollars were used by ACORN offices. When will Illinois wake up?
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