Wandtv.com, NewsCenter17, StormCenter17, Central Illinois News-Dept. of Aging office move causes stir among lawmakers
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Springfield, IL - A plan to move the State Department of Aging from rent-free offices to a building that will cost over $500,000 a year has some lawmakers fuming.
So far this move is being explained as a measure to increase efficiency by bringing together Department of Aging employees under one roof, but that argument isn't going down well with some lawmakers who don't believe efficiency is worth $530,000 a year.
Springfield State Senator Larry Bomke says he finds the decision to rent space at Jefferson Terrace hard to swallow when the state owns plenty of office space the Department of Aging could move into for free. Bomke is not alone.
"The Governor ought to through his executive powers nullify this contract and my analogy to the Governor is this: Governor, we are on a life raft that and we are sinking. We have to jettison the ballast. We have to get rid of things that we don't really need and instead what he's doing is he's taking the flat screen TV with him onto the rubber boat," said State Representative Jack Franks.
"We're hearing from the developmentally disabled not being served, the mentally ill not being served and of course we know what's happening to all the schools," said Bomke. "I'm not sure what the governor is thinking.
"It just makes state government look like they've lost touch of the reality of the taxes and really what it costs the individuals who are living out there and paying those taxes," said State Representative Rich Brauer.
The lease agreement still has to be approved by the Procurement Policy Review Board and Senator Bomke says he plans to draft a resolution insisting that the board take a hard look at the plan to make sure its what he calls ‘the fiscally prudent thing to do.'
If the lease agreement is approved, the Department of Aging would move into Jefferson Terrace on July 1st.
