Illinois legislators have become infamous for doling out generous college scholarships to relatives, friends, and campaign donors. But Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill into law yesterday banning the scholarship entirely, at long last. From The Chicago Tribune, this is why we can’t have nice things:
A 2009 Tribune analysis found that in the five prior years, lawmakers gave at least 140 scholarships to relatives of their campaign donors. Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, gave $32,000 in scholarships to a relative of a campaign contributor and circulator of petitions for the speaker’s campaigns.
The Tribune also found that lawmakers gave at least 87 free rides to relatives of people with other political ties, including three children of city of Chicago employees charged with corruption. And the paper uncovered how the scholarships came in handy when the University of Illinois became increasingly competitive and costly. University emails and a state report showed that some students were placed on secret clout lists after state lawmakers advocated for them and then admitted only after the university learned that they were to get a coveted General Assembly scholarship.
Each year, lawmakers would get the equivalent of two, four-year free rides to award. Sometimes they would give them to two students, sometimes they’d split them up for as many as eight. Quinn’s office said the tuition waivers cost state universities $13.5 million over the past year.
The program has just one requirement: The recipient must live in the legislator’s district. But time and again, lawmakers gave them to students who lived elsewhere.
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