SPRINGFIELD- State Senator Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City) released the following statement regarding the recently released performance audit of IDES during the pandemic:
“This was something we had feared since the beginning of the pandemic. While constituents needed help during this time of need, IDES was creating chaos and causing significant losses for taxpayers. The Governor’s Administration disregarded the warnings and insisted everything was under control when clearly everything was a disaster.
“The audit shows that there was more than $5 billion in improper payments. The administration did not follow its own protocols and ignored the recommendations from the federal government, which led to scammers and fraudsters taking advantage of the system and stealing the taxpayers’ money. The agency also sent $6 million to people who were deceased and $40 million to people in jail.
“While all this nonsense was going on, I had constituents calling me who were lawfully entitled to these benefits who were not receiving what was owed to them and couldn’t even get ahold of anyone at the agency to help. The administration failed to help those who needed it most, while they were throwing away the taxpayers’ money to criminals.”
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