McHenry Times

State Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) wants the state to conduct a forensic audit of its immense backlog of bills, which has now hit more than $15.1 billion, and suspend the state’s Prompt Pay Act late payment penalty.

“Waste and fraud are hallmarks of government spending,” Skillicorn said in a press release. “I don’t believe our illustrious state is free of such abuses, so let’s find out exactly where we stand. On most of our backlog we are over eight months behind on payments. Surely, timely payments is not a believable excuse any longer.”

Skillicorn noted that while a forensic backlog could be time-consuming and will incur costs for the state, the current political situation in Illinois has created a perfect time for the audit with the state's finances essentially frozen. Further, it stands to save the state a lot of money if wasteful and fraudulent spending can be rooted out, he said.

“How many of our bills are owed to family members of convicted felon Bill Cellini?” Skillicorn asked in the release. “How much is owed to (House) Speaker (Michael) Madigan’s (D-Chicago) law firm? How many ‘connected’ individuals are on the list? How much of our backlog is going towards corruption? I publicly call on Comptroller Susana Mendoza to conduct a forensic audit on the entire $15.1 billion backlog immediately.”