SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Representative Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) is renewing his call for greater legislative oversight of the Illinois Commission on Equity and Inclusion following the departure of Executive Director Alexandria Wilson.
Wilson recently left the commission to become chief operating officer of the Illinois Power Agency. Her departure follows months of bipartisan criticism over the commission’s management, spending and declining participation among businesses seeking state certification.
“A change in leadership does not erase the commission’s failures or eliminate the need for answers,” Halbrook said. “Taxpayers deserve to know whether the commitments made to legislators have been fulfilled and whether any meaningful progress has been made.”
Halbrook has repeatedly criticized the CEI for spending millions of taxpayer dollars while the number of certified participating businesses dropped by nearly half. The commission has also faced questions about its approximately $5.6 million budget, high commissioner salaries and a computer-system transition that disrupted the certification process.
“This commission was created to expand opportunity, but participation has fallen, costs have increased and businesses have faced more barriers,” Halbrook said. “That is not success. It is government failure.”
Commission officials previously told lawmakers that operational and management problems would be addressed by July 1 and that a solution to the computer-system issues would be completed by the end of June. It remains unclear whether those commitments were fulfilled.
“This leadership change should not be used to avoid accountability,” Halbrook said. “I will continue seeking the information necessary to determine whether the commission kept its promises to the General Assembly. Illinois taxpayers should not be forced to fund an expensive bureaucracy that continues to fail.”
For more information, please contact Rep. Halbrook’s office at 217-342-0220 or visit his website at RepHalbrook.com.
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State Representative Brad Halbrook, is currently in his 7th term as State Representative in the Illinois General Assembly. Rep. Halbrook’s 107th district includes several communities in the following Central Illinois counties: Macon, Shelby, Christian, Effingham, Montgomery, Cumberland, and Moultrie. Rep. Halbrook dedicates his term in office to pursuing conservative public policy, holding government accountable, and fighting high state and local taxes.